Boston Celtics reserve point guard Payton Pritchard enjoyed another stellar game for the 23-8 reigning champs on Friday against the Indiana Pacers.
In the 142-105 blowout victory, the Sixth Man of the Year contender was on the cusp of a triple-double in the Celtics’ romp before he was taken out of the game for the night, with the contest well out of hand and head coach Joe Mazzulla wanting to avoid injury by trotting out his deep bench. Across 31:37 18 points, the 6-foot-1 Oregon product scored 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field (4-of-10 from deep), dished out 10 assists, and grabbed eight rebounds. He also swiped a steal and blocked a shot. He notched a +25 plus-minus, to boot.
This year, the 26-year-old is averaging 15.4 points while slashing .466/.413/.848 shooting splits (his 41.3 percent 3-point conversion rate is arriving on a robust 8.7 triple tries), 3.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 0.9 steals a night in his 31 healthy games.
He’s never been much of an athlete, and has been racking up buckets with plays beneath the basket or mid- and long-range jumpers. But he has had a bit of an extra spring in his step, during his best year ever.
During a postgame interview alongside three-time All-Star Celtics small forward Jaylen Brown (who paced the Celtics against the Pacers with a 44-point, four-steal effort), the subject of his improved play this year naturally came up. Pritchard wears sneakers from Brown’s apparel brand, 741, which Brown teasingly credited with Pritchard’s better upside.
“If Payton gets a dunk this season, it’s definitely the shoes.”
Jaylen Brown on fellow 741 shoes user Payton Pritchard 😅
(via @danield1214) pic.twitter.com/3BmApHQhtj
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 28, 2024
“If Payton has a dunk this season, it’s definitely the shoes,” Brown joked.
Brown, of course, is quite comfortable emphatically dunking. Pritchard conceded that he feels a bit more athletic in his teammate’s footwear.
“It gives you a little bit, like in 2K, it gives you a couple points overall in quickness, rebounding,” Pritchard said. “I think I had two offensive rebounds in a row. Maybe if I’m not rocking the shoes, I don’t have that quick a bounce.”
Pritchard will get another crack at notching a triple-double this year with a rematch against the Pacers, slated for Sunday evening at 6 p.m. ET. He inked a four-year, $30 million rookie-scale extension deal with Boston ahead of the Celtics’ 2023-24 championship season, which kicks in this year. He’s making just $6.7 million this year, an absolute steal.
