” There is no match without stakes but only opportunities to be seized coaches often explain. Payton Pritchard demonstrated this last night by playing this last game of the regular season thoroughly, and he was rewarded for his XXL performance with a first career triple-double. A perf ‘which allows to offer Boston a 57th victory, its best record since 2008-2009.
Author of 30 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in 46 minutes in a match without stake between the B team of the Celtics and that of the Hawks, the point guard distinguished himself by his impressive 9/16 from 3-point range, and ended up getting caught up in the game. Until validating his “TD” at the start of the fourth quarter on a pass for JD Davidson, then scoring two baskets which helped put an end to the suspense towards the end of the game, on two 3-point shots. Before him, only John Havlicek and Larry Bird had managed to compile such numbers in the history of the franchise…
His rewarded work ethic
For his coach, Joe Mazzulla, this performance says a lot about the level of investment of Payton Pritchard, always ready to seize the opportunities that arise even if he does not see much of the field.
“The way his career has gone in terms of playing time and lack of playing time, he’s always handled it right”, did he declare. “He has that competitiveness, a sense of professionalism and a work ethic.”
While he has only played five games in the last six weeks of competition, and had already produced a good performance during the previous meeting against Toronto (22 points, 5 assists in 25 minutes), the triple -double of Payton Pritchard can only play in his favor. Before thinking about reintroducing rotation, the Celtics’ luxury joker wanted to stay humble and get back to work to keep moving forward.
“I went back to my job. All year, I worked, I waited for my opportunity. As for the playoffs, I’m here and ready to help the team as much as I can. But above all I want to keep working, to improve my game. I had the opportunity to show my progress today.”, did he slip.
| Payton Pritchard | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2020-21 | BOS | 66 | 19 | 44.0 | 41.1 | 88.9 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 7.7 |
| 2021-22 | BOS | 71 | 14 | 42.9 | 41.2 | 100.0 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 6.2 |
| 2022-23 | BOS | 47 | 13 | 40.6 | 34.1 | 73.3 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 5.1 |
| Total | 184 | 16 | 42.9 | 39.6 | 88.9 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 6.5 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def= defensive rebound; Tot = Total bounces; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost bullets; Ct: Counters; Points = Points.
