DALLAS — WNBA star Caitlin Clark didn’t seem thrilled when former NBA star Reggie Miller declared her NBA comparison was Payton Pritchard on an NBC pregame broadcast last week. The clip of her seemingly disappointed reaction immediately blew up on the internet, with fans claiming that she appeared offended when Miller compared her to the Celtics guard.
But, when asked about the moment earlier this week, Pritchard shrugged it off.
“I don’t really look into that kind of stuff. I don’t really got a comment,” Pritchard said. “She’s a tremendous player, though.”
The reality is that being compared to Payton Pritchard is no slight. Perhaps Clark was expecting to be compared to a more decorated star, like Steph Curry or Luka Doncic. But it’s not Curry, nor Doncic, who is the NBA’s most efficient isolation player.
That honor goes to the 6’1 Celtics guard.
Pritchard is the NBA’s most efficient isolation player, shooting 63.5% from the field on 1.8 iso attempts per game, per NBA.com.
He wasn’t the least bit surprised when he stumbled upon that efficiency statistic, which made its rounds on social media late last month.
“I feel like it just goes to the work, and it makes me believe that I’m on the right path,” Pritchard said. “And, every year, I get a little bit better and better. And, as long as that’s happening. I don’t want to say that I’ve had drastic jumps year-to-year to go [like[ from 10 to 20 points, but if I’m chipping away, going [up] 3 points, more assists, I’m getting a little bit better, then I’m on the right path. I feel like it’s just another sign that I’m doing what I’m supposed to.”
And, since the viral Caitlin Clark clip, the former Sixth Man of the Year has been especially productive.
In the last three games, he’s averaging 25.7 points on 52.7% shooting, while shooting 45.8% from three. While he’s technically come off the bench for all three of those games, is averaging more minutes in that span (34.5) than he has this season (32.7).
Coming off the bench hasn’t impacted his approach.
“The mindset don’t really change,” he said. “It’s just come out and do what I do — hoop and help the team win.”
Inside Payton Pritchard’s ridiculous isolation efficiency
If you watch Pritchard play, one of the most remarkable parts of his offensive prowess is how much space he’s able to create against players. He attributes that to three converging elements of his game.
“I think it’s the ability to stop on a dime, [being] strong enough to bump them off, and the handles to be able to create that separation too,” he said. “So it’s all three — setting them up with the handle, a little nudge, and the ability to stop.”
On Tuesday night, Pritchard came off the bench for the first time all season and dropped 26 points on 12-20 FG, including hitting 10 of 12 of his two-point attempts.
Just moments after checking into the game, he drove past Cooper Flagg for a reverse layup. His litany of shots included a fadeaway over Caleb Martin, a floater over Ryan Nembhard, and multiple jumpers over Flagg.
No two shots looked the same because, depending on who was guarding him and at what angle, Pritchard pulled out a different move.
“I’d still shoot it over Wemby — like I had a shot against Wemby, an isolation on top, and I shot, like, an underhand floater,” Pritchard said, recalling a move he made in the Celtics’ game against the San Antonio Spurs last month.
After all, the Oregon star famously spends the entire offseason inviting different elite players from around the world to guard him, so that he can perfect the right counter against each type of defender.
“I’m not really worried about who it is,” he said. “Now, [Wemby] might change the trajectory of my shot. I might shoot a different shot. But that’s why, in the summertime, I’m playing against many different heights and different types of players, because [if I’m going up against] somebody quicker, or somebody stronger, or taller, you’re gonna have to get to a different spot, a different type of shot to get it off.”
In Friday’s 21-point comeback win against the Miami Heat, Pritchard was particularly instrumental. The Celtics guard struggled in the first half (5 points on 1-6 FG), but went crazy in the second, exploding for 19 points on 7-9 shooting.
Afterwards, Jaylen Brown credited him for turning the game around.
“Payton has just developed different aspects of his game,” Brown said. “Offensively, he’s always been able to be a three-point threat. He established that, but now I feel like he’s learning to use his body, get to the midrange, get his shot off, and be effective and efficient, which has helped take him another step, finding ways to get to the basket. He looks great.”
From regular DNPs to one of the NBA’s elite scorers
Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka has long known that Pritchard had this in him. He recalled having three different 1-on-1 meetings with Pritchard through the 2021-2022 season, in which Pritchard fell out of the rotation in favor of Dennis Schroder and Josh Richardson.
Udoka explained to the then-23-year-old that his time was coming, but remembers Pritchard’s eagerness to lace up: “He is always who he’s been — confident, aggressive, but also itching to get that opportunity.”
So, nothing he’s seen since 2022 has surprised him — not the Sixth Man of the Year award last Spring, nor his ascendance this season as the Celtics’ third-leading scorer.
“He’s always been who he is,” Udoka said. “It was opportunity more than anything.”
The Celtics traded Schroder, Richardson, and Romeo Langford at the midseason trade deadline in 2022, paving a pathway for Pritchard to get his much-desired, more consistent minutes.
“Ever since then, he’s taken off,” Udoka said. “You knew he was going to be ready for it.”
Nowadays, the Celtics guard is the NBA’s assist-to-turnover ratio leader, among players who average at least 3 assists per game.
In 2026, he was the Celtics’ second-leading scorer in 2026, averaging 17.8 points per game. In that span, he’s shooting 49.1% from the field and 42.1% from three, an early-season shooting slump in the rearview mirror.
Sometimes, regardless of what the defense throws at him, he just about looks unguardable.
Friday night against the Heat was one of those nights.
“I have a lot of tools in the toolbox,” Pritchard said, matter-of-factly. “So, I pull them out.”