Payton Pritchard is thriving as a mover for Celtics 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 buzzer beater to end the first half.
“You look at the other team, and it’s one of those that breaks (their) spirit,” veteran Al Horford said at the time. “It just kind of fueled us.”
Fast forward to Monday night at TD Garden, where Pritchard delivered another late-quarter dagger: a step-back 3-pointer to beat the third-quarter buzzer and give the Celtics an eight-point lead over the Milwaukee Bucks entering the fourth.
Pritchard is one of the few players in the NBA who will take deep shots at the buzzer regardless of his field goal percentage — partly because he has an uncanny ability to make them, and partly because he knows what a dot does. the other team.
“I feel like that’s why everyone should take them, no matter the distance,” Pritchard said. “It’s just a gut punch when you hit them. Like you, felt it in the Garden — the swings are crazy.”
Such was the case Monday night, as Boston never looked back after Pritchard’s buzzer-beater en route to 119-108 win that had Bucks head coach Doc Rivers bowed in dismay.
“I literally circled his name this morning,” Rivers lamented after the game. “I was like, ‘This guy comes in and he’s a game changer.'”
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 off the bench in one game. And just as House did for the “Big Three” era Celtics, Pritchard has embraced his role as a second-first spark plug.
“It’s really just about the energy I have to bring every game, especially coming off the bench,” Pritchard said. “Some nights our starters might have low energy, so I have to be responsible for bringing it that night.”
Shifting the 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 waiting for a down shift when the Celtics’ starters settle down meet one of the league’s best bench players who takes his job as a momentum-changer very, very seriously — especially in the closing seconds of quarters.
“I just live for those moments,” Pritchard said. “The clock is winding down, and I think there’s like six seconds left, so just to get in place and lift. And I kind of black out in those moments and just let it fly.”
