Entering Sunday’s game, the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards both had nothing to play for. The Celtics clinched the number one seed with 11 games left in the season while the Wizards sat second to last in the Eastern Conference with 15 wins. With each team’s star players sitting, it was time for role players and end-of-the-bench players to step up.
Payton Pritchard is no end-of-the-bench player; he’s a role player on a very talented Celtics team and because of that, he’s been forced to be a role player. Last year, Pritchard featured in 48 games. Despite his desire to be on the court, he couldn’t get the minutes he wanted behind teammates Marcus Smart, Derrick White, and Malcolm Brogdon.
Fast forward to Sunday and Pritchard featured in game 82 (one of just 17 players this season to accomplish this feat). When he’s got his chances this year he’s taken it, whether it was being one of the first guys off the bench or in spot starts.
After starting on Friday and dropping a then career-high 31 points against the Hornets, Pritchard got the starting nod again to conclude the regular season and he impressed again scoring a new career-high 38 points on 15-21 shooting. Getting more minutes over the last few games, he was asked postgame if these games gave him momentum.
“Nah, I already knew I could do this on a nightly basis, but when you have a team with as much talent as we have, you have to do other things to help winning,” Pritchard said. “This doesn’t do anything for me, it’s a great performance, but ultimately I’m here to win a championship. Whatever is asked of me, I’ll do that.”
After signing his four-year, $30 million extension (Thanks, Brad), Pritchard is showing he’s more than just a role player on a talented team. There will be nights when he’s asked to be more of a facilitator but his ability to create shots and shoot (38.5% from three this season) should bode well for him in the playoffs. One question mark he had coming into the season was how would his defense hold up against these other guards, but it doesn’t seem to be an issue.
On Sunday, Pritchard showed why he belongs in the league scoring 14 consecutive points for the Celtics to close the second quarter which included four three-pointers. But it wasn’t just the scoring from Pritchard that made this such a great performance by him. Pritchard understands the game and where the openings are when he’s driving with the ball, finding guys for easy layups or open shots. Pritchard finished the game with 12 assists showing he’s more than just a scorer.
Joe Mazzulla talked about how Pritchard (and Sam Hauser) aren’t defined by one thing.
“I think they know what their role is and they know how to play the game, and know how to impact the game, and they’re not defined by one thing. They take just as much pride in their defense as they do in their offense,” Mazzulla said. “They’re well coached by the player development staff, [and] are great complementary parts to this team, but at the same time, they know they can impact the game in different ways.”
Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images
On the last game of the 2023 season, Pritchard record his first, and only, triple-double of his career with 30 points, 11 assists, and 14 rebounds. It was almost deja vu for Pritchard as he was one rebound shy of what would have been his second-ever triple-double.
Towards the last few minutes of the game, you could see Pritchard in the paint trying to fight for that elusive 10th rebound but ultimately he came up short.
“If it came, I’ll take it. But I got one last year, so it wasn’t like I had pressure to get my first triple-double,” Pritchard said. “I’m a pretty good rebounder, so if I get the minutes, I think I’ll be able to get another triple-double.”
But even off the floor, Pritchard is a mentor to the younger guys on the team. CelticsBlog’s Noa Dalzell asked Pritchard about being a leader to guys like Jordan Walsh and Drew Peterson.
“A lot of us have to start from the ground up. We’re not going to be high draft picks so you have to get it through your work showing up every day [and] grinding,” he said. “I just try to feed that to all the young ones coming in to do all the little things and show up every day and keep getting better and better because you don’t know how far you can take it.”
There will be times this postseason Pritchard will have to step up and deliver for Boston whether it’s him looking for his shot or creating scoring opportunities for his teammates. Whether he gets 10 minutes or 30 minutes, you know Pritchard will give it his all every time he steps onto the court.
