Pritchard Dazzles in Toronto, While Hugo Has Fans Asking: How Good Can He Be?

Playing on the second night of a back-to-back and without Jaylen Brown, the Celtics took down the Toronto Raptors to jump up to the No. 3 seed in the East. How did they pull it off? Payton Pritchard, Hugo Gonzalez and Luka Garza played major roles in making it happen. We dive into the night, and questions after the W, in our latest episode of SOUND OFF.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Sound off with me posts on no Jalen, no problem.
For the Boston Celtics Saturday night, on the second night
of a back to back up in Toronto, they take
down the Toronto Raptors one twelve to ninety six, and
with that win, Boston jumps Toronto in the Eastern Conference
standings and is now the number three seed in the

(00:27):
East yet again. This is a sound off postgame podcast
presented by Exfinity Mobile. Thanks for giving us a listen. Listen.
I gotta say this up front. You can probably hear
this in my voice a little bit. I'm not feeling
great right now, so this is gonna be a pretty
quick episode. Bear with me as we try to get
through this and then hopefully we're feeling good from Monday night.

(00:49):
All right, So, how did the Celtics grab this win?
I actually pose that question to everyone on Twitter after
the final buzzer. My answer has got be Peyton Pritchard.
I mean, this guy was exceptional from start to finish
in this game. He winds up, winds up with thirty
three points, ten assists, both game highs, also adds in

(01:13):
seven rebounds during this game, and really this all started
from the very first quarter. Okay, he came out of
the gates, and I believe it was he scored or
assisted on their first twelve or fourteen points of the game.
He had eight points and four assists during the first quarter,
and then you fast forward into the third quarter, and
this guy looked like the best player in the world.

(01:34):
I mean, he could not be stopped. Nineteen points during
the third quarter alone. There were multiple times when he
was actually cooking Scottie Barnes, who, as I wrote after
the game in our Keys to the Game, he is
regarded around the league as one of the best defenders
around and Peyton Pritchard was straight up cooking him. It

(01:57):
is impossible to not love watch Peyton Pritchard play offense,
the footwork, the ball handling, the ability to finish from
all three levels. I think they talked about it on
the NBC Sports Boston broadcast tonight. He is one of
the top finishers on drives in the league. He is elite,

(02:19):
and he showed it again tonight. And isn't it a
little bit coincidental? I'm calling a beautifully coincidental that he
has a game like this tonight, just a few days
after the Boston Celtics begin promoting him as an All
Star player for the first time in his young career.

(02:40):
The Celtics are putting their energy behind Jalen Brown, Derek White,
and Peyton Pritchard to get their fans to vote for
him into the All Star Game. And boy did he
bolster his case tonight with this thirty three point ten
assist gem up in Toronto. Now, who else made an impact?
We got to talk about Ugo Gonzalez. I know we

(03:01):
talked a lot about him last night after the win
Friday night at TD Garden against the Miami Heat. He
played a career high thirty minutes during that game. But
tonight he comes in and logs the first double double
of his career ten points, ten rebounds. During this game,
all off the bench, he was a plus thirty seven.

(03:23):
I'm gonna repeat that, a plus thirty seven. The Boston
Celtics outscored the Toronto Raptors by thirty seven points during
his twenty eight minutes of action. That's insane. That is insane.
The Celtics were a dominant force while Ugo Gonzalez was

(03:44):
on the court, and that wasn't coincidental, Like he was
making a significant impact across the board. In fact, he
had one of the biggest plays, and in fact, I
believe it was the knockout punch that the excuse Me
Celtics landed on the Toronto Raptors when they were up
by ten midway through the fourth quarter and Ugo Gonzalez

(04:09):
jumps a passing lane, picks the ball off and it
should have been called a clear path foul. Don't know
how it wasn't, but he picks it off, he gets
followed from behind, not a clear path file. Then five
seconds later catches the ball on the right wing, puts
it on the deck and Frickin drives to the rim
and hammers one home on the Toronto Raptors. That put

(04:32):
the lead up to twelve, only a few minutes left
in the game, and at that point that felt like
the absolute knockout punch. The Raptors were down on the
ground after that one and they were not getting back up.
But what I love about Ugo Gonzalez the most is
that you know what you're gonna get from him every night.

(04:54):
He's so consistent in his decision making, in his playmaking,
in his ability to read the game and process the
game quickly. It really is stunning to see a nineteen
year old player doing this on this level for a
Celtics team that needs him right now as a rookie,

(05:17):
he is making a wildly impressive impact compared to what
probably almost anyone could have expected before this season. All right,
quick word from our partner, Exfinity Mobile. You know that
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(05:39):
working in perfect sink, you get ultra fast speeds and
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fast break. Season after season, Exfinity imagine that. Now. The
one other guy that I got to dive into highlighting.
And I almost wanted to say this person first, but
Peyton Pritchett, the three point ten assists, double double, you

(06:02):
gotta name him first. But Luca Garza had barely played
in the last month before this game. And then the
Celtics check into tonight and Joe Missoula he must have
told him before the game, we're gonna call your number.
And Luca checked into the game and he looked like
he was pissed off. He looked like he had something

(06:23):
to prove, and he did. He was relentless every second
that he was on the floor. He played about twenty
six minutes in this game, relentless from start to finish.
In the first four minutes that he was on the floor,
he grabbed five offensive rebounds. Five in the first four

(06:45):
minutes that he was in the game. People don't average
five offensive rebounds in a game. He did that in
the first four minutes that he played Saturday night, and
then you fast forward through the rest of the game
and it just kept happening. He was relentless on the glass.
Every single opportunity offensively, he was going after offensive rebounds

(07:08):
and he wound up grabbing nine of them on the
night that, believe it or not, it wasn't even his
career high. He tied his career high. So he's done
this before. His motor is so high, and as I said,
it looked like when he checked into this game he
wanted to prove something and he did. Just an awesome

(07:34):
performance from Luca Garza tonight twelve points, ten rebounds, two assists,
blocked a shot. The Celtics South score Toronto by twenty
two points. While he's on the court, he was exceptional
and just another example of this team being so deep

(07:57):
and every single player not only being ready to deliver
when this Celtics team needs it, but then they actually
follow through on it every single night. Again, Luca Garza
had not played any meaningful minutes really in a month,

(08:20):
and then tonight the Celtics need him on the second
night of a back to back without Jaylen Brown, and
he puts up a twelve point, ten rebound, nine offensive
rebound double double. Awesome to watch, Super happy for him.
He's showing that whenever Joe Missoula calls his name, Joe

(08:40):
Missoula can trust in knowing exactly what he's gonna bring
to the table. All Right, we're only taking one comment
from the fans tonight. As you can see, I'm just
really under the weather, so we're gonna get through this quick.
Our one comment is coming in from believe In Green,
who wants to talk about just how good Ugo Gonzalez can. Yeah,

(09:01):
that's all good today that I think here one, put
your mobile goll in half and save sixty five dollars
a month for your first year with Expinity Mobile. All right, folks,
one comment tonight, as I said, this is coming in
from Believe in Green, who says, Peyton Pritchard looked like

(09:23):
he was at the pro am and yes he did.
This is Peyton Pritchard is known for scoring eighty seventy
ninety points in pro ams. He was awesome tonight, Believe
in Green continues, Ugo has arrived. My question is Mark,
how good will Ugo be and what can his comparison be?

(09:43):
All Right, we already talked about Peyton Pritchard. We also
talked about Ugo, but we're gonna We're gonna answer this question.
The question is how good will Ugo be and what
can his comparison to be? I think that what Believe
in Green is asking here is what is a good
NBA comp for Ugo Gonzalez. So I've been actually thinking

(10:08):
about this. I actually talked to one of my coworkers
after the last night's game about this. We were walking
in the hallway after the game and Ugo certainly came
up as I was on my way up to the
studio for our sound off podcast. And the name that
I threw out there for a comp is actually Marcus Smart.

(10:30):
I believe that Ugo Gonzalez and hear me out, Ugo
Gonzalez is the same as Marcus Smart in terms of
making winning plays. This guy just that's what he does.
He makes winning plays. He's always in the right place
at the right time. Very rarely does he make a

(10:53):
critical mistake that's going to cost the team. Like he
makes those plays that you're like, that is the one
that either knocked the other team out like he did tonight,
or that is the play that got the Celtics going
to get back in the game. The hustle plays, the
high IQ plays. These are the things that Marcus Smart

(11:14):
became known for as a big defensive guard, and I
think Ugo Gonzalez has a lot of the same stuff
in him. Now here's the difference, and this is important.
The difference between Marcus Smart and Ugo Gonzalez is that
I believe that with Ugo Gonzalez you get all of

(11:35):
those things without many of the things that bothered and
annoyed some Celtics fans while Marcus Smart was here, like
the turnovers or the shot selection or things like that,
Like Ugo Gonzalez doesn't do those things yet, at least
maybe in a more prominent role. He will down the road,
who knows, but right now he's just so sound in

(11:58):
his decision making. The ball doesn't dick. He only takes
good shots, but he always brings that energy and makes
winning plays. So if you were to pin me against
the wall and say, Mark, tell me right now who

(12:18):
you think a compareds a comp for Ugo Gonzalez in
the NBA, I would say Marcus Smart simply because of
the winning play aspect of what they both bring to
the table, except Ugo Gonzalez doesn't have some of those
things in his game that frustrated some Celtics fans when

(12:40):
Marcus Smart was in town. And that to me is
a big, big win for the Celtics getting a guy
like that at the end of the first round in
last year's draft. He just continues to make an impact
on the Celtics and the Celtics continue to surprise people again.
They are up to number three in the Eastern Conference.

(13:00):
Going to be back on the floor Monday night at
TD Garden playing host to the Indiana Pacers. That's the
final game before Christmas, folks, and I'm hoping that I'll
be feeling well enough to get into the studio and
do the postgame podcast Monday night. If it doesn't happen,
you know why. But I appreciate you giving us a
listen tonight, and I hope that I get to see

(13:21):
you again Monday night.