per NBA.com<\/a>.<\/p>\nHe wasn\u2019t the least bit surprised when he stumbled upon that efficiency statistic, which made its rounds on social media late last month.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like it just goes to the work, and it makes me believe that I\u2019m on the right path,\u201d Pritchard said. \u201cAnd, every year, I get a little bit better and better. And, as long as that\u2019s happening. I don\u2019t want to say that I\u2019ve had drastic jumps year-to-year to go [like[ from 10 to 20 points, but if I\u2019m chipping away, going [up] 3 points, more assists, I\u2019m getting a little bit better, then I\u2019m on the right path. I feel like it\u2019s just another sign that I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m supposed to.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, since the viral Caitlin Clark clip, the former Sixth Man of the Year has been especially productive.<\/p>\n
In the last three games, he\u2019s averaging 25.7 points on 52.7% shooting, while shooting 45.8% from three. While he\u2019s 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).<\/p>\n
Coming off the bench hasn\u2019t impacted his approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mindset don\u2019t really change,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just come out and do what I do \u2014 hoop and help the team win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside Payton Pritchard\u2019s ridiculous isolation efficiency <\/p>\n
If you watch Pritchard play, one of the most remarkable parts of his offensive prowess is how much space he\u2019s able to create against players. He attributes that to three converging elements of his game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s 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,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it\u2019s all three \u2014 setting them up with the handle, a little nudge, and the ability to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
No two shots looked the same because, depending on who was guarding him and at what angle, Pritchard pulled out a different move.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d still shoot it over Wemby \u2014 like I had a shot against Wemby, an isolation on top, and I shot, like, an underhand floater,\u201d Pritchard said, recalling a move he made in the Celtics\u2019 game against the San Antonio Spurs last month.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not really worried about who it is,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, [Wemby] might change the trajectory of my shot. I might shoot a different shot. But that\u2019s why, in the summertime, I\u2019m playing against many different heights and different types of players, because [if I\u2019m going up against] somebody quicker, or somebody stronger, or taller, you\u2019re gonna have to get to a different spot, a different type of shot to get it off.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Friday\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Afterwards, Jaylen Brown credited him for turning the game around.<\/p>\n
\u201cPayton has just developed different aspects of his game,\u201d Brown said. \u201cOffensively, he\u2019s always been able to be a three-point threat. He established that, but now I feel like he\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
From regular DNPs to one of the NBA\u2019s elite scorers<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Udoka explained to the then-23-year-old that his time was coming, but remembers Pritchard\u2019s eagerness to lace up: \u201cHe is always who he\u2019s been \u2014 confident, aggressive, but also itching to get that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, nothing he\u2019s seen since 2022 has surprised him \u2014 not the Sixth Man of the Year award last Spring, nor his ascendance this season as the Celtics\u2019 third-leading scorer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s always been who he is,\u201d Udoka said. \u201cIt was opportunity more than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cEver since then, he\u2019s taken off,\u201d Udoka said. \u201cYou knew he was going to be ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nowadays, the Celtics guard is the NBA\u2019s assist-to-turnover ratio leader, among players who average at least 3 assists per game.<\/p>\n
In 2026, he was the Celtics\u2019 second-leading scorer in 2026, averaging 17.8 points per game. In that span, he\u2019s shooting 49.1% from the field and 42.1% from three, an early-season shooting slump in the rearview mirror.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, regardless of what the defense throws at him, he just about looks unguardable.<\/p>\n
Friday night against the Heat was one of those nights.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a lot of tools in the toolbox,\u201d Pritchard said, matter-of-factly. \u201cSo, I pull them out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DALLAS \u2014 WNBA star Caitlin Clark didn\u2019t seem thrilled when former NBA star Reggie Miller declared her NBA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7,37650,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-588007","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston-celtics-articles","10":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116028573240582252","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}