Payton Pritchard is thriving as a Celtics booster originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Ask any Celtics player when they knew Boston would win the decisive Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals, and most will point to the same play: Payton Pritchard’s pull at the buzzer to end the first half.
“If you look at the other team, it’s one of those that breaks their spirit,” veteran Al Horford said at the time. “It just galvanized us.”
Fast forward to Monday night at TD Garden, where Pritchard delivered another dagger late in the quarter: a step-back 3-pointer to sound the third-quarter buzzer and give the Celtics an eight-point lead over the Milwaukee Bucks upon entering the room.
Pritchard is one of the few players in the NBA who takes deep shots at the buzzer regardless of his field goal percentage, partly because he has uncanny ability to make them and partly because he knows what a shot does. the other team.
“I feel like that’s why everyone should take them, no matter the distance,” Pritchard said. “It’s just a punch in the gut when you hit them. Like you, you felt it at the Garden – the momentum swings are crazy.”
Such was the case Monday night, when Boston never looked back after Pritchard’s buzzer-beater on the way to a 119-108 victory That made Bucks head coach Doc Rivers slouch in dismay.
“I literally circled his name this morning,” Rivers lamented after the game. “I thought, ‘This guy comes in and changes the game.'”
Pritchard lived up to Rivers’ scouting report Monday night, hitting 8 of 12 3-pointers to finish with 28 points and tie Eddie House’s franchise record for most 3-pointers made off the bench in a game. And just as House did with the Celtics of the “Big Three” era, Pritchard has embraced his role as a second-unit spark plug.
“It’s really about the energy I have to bring to every game, especially coming off the bench,” Pritchard said. “Some nights our starters can be low on energy, so I have to be responsible for bringing it out that night.”
Changing energy is nothing new for Pritchard, who finished second in the NBA in net rating last season (behind fellow Celtics reserve Sam Hauser) and leads all bench players in points and 3-pointers through four games. this season.
Opponents hoping for a downshift when the Celtics’ starters take a breather find themselves with one of the league’s best bench players who takes his job of shifting momentum very, very seriously, especially in the final seconds of the quarters.
“I just live for those moments,” Pritchard said. “The clock was running out, and I think it was like six seconds left, so just to get to a place and go up. And I pass out in those moments and just let it fly.”