Payton Pritchard's adjustment to new role gives Boston a much-needed deadeye shooter

The problem with being a second-year player in the NBA is that you sometimes have to wait your turn, even if someone cuts you in line.

Payton Pritchard got plenty of opportunity as a rookie thanks to a thin point guard corps and a lot of injuries and COVID illnesses. He quickly built a bit of a cult status in Boston, but he had to step aside this season after the signing of Dennis Schröder. 

We don’t need to relitigate the signing. It made sense at the time, even though Pritchard had to step aside as the experiment played out. Now that Schröder is gone, Pritchard is back to getting his chances, and he’s making the most of them. After opening up the season 10-47 on 3-pointers, he’s up to 41% from deep, and 52% so far in March. 

“Beginning of the season, I wasn't really playing,” Pritchard said on Thursday. “I think a lot of my stats came from like the last two minutes of the game. I think you gotta see it from All-Star break from playing consistent. But also, I'm getting a lot of easy looks from these guys. For my job is to knock those down."

Pritchard has been knocking down wide open 3’s at a healthy clip this season. According to NBA.com tracking stats, he’s 46-115 overall, or 40%. Nearly half of those makes have come since the All-Star break, where he’s 20-43 (46.5%). But if you drill further down, he’s gotten more than a quarter of his wide-open looks just this month, where he’s shooting 16-33 (48.5%) on wide open 3’s. 

No one has gotten, or made, more wide open 3-pointers this month than Pritchard. 

“I’ve watched his growth and progression throughout his career, and the mentality was always there, the confidence was always there,” Ime Udoka said. “It was just going to be a matter of opportunity.”

Pritchard is adapting well to a new role with the Celtics. Where last year he handled the ball a lot as a backup point guard, he’s now stepping into more catch-and-shoot opportunities.

Before the break, Pritchard got 1.7 catch-and-shoot 3-point chances per game, and he hit 34.5% of them. After, he’s up to 3.9 chances per game and hitting 45.3%. In March, he’s up to 51.3%. Pritchard only got 2.6 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers per game last season. 

“He’s always added to his game, and stretching the floor has always been part of it," Udoka said. “He had that tremendous range at Oregon. Him learning how to play off the ball is invaluable to him because of Jayson and Jaylen, some of the creators.”

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are learning to open things up for others, and their ability to do so has created a lot of opportunities for the Celtics' role players. 

“I'm a basketball player so I just go out and react,” Pritchard said. “With Jayson and Jaylen handling the ball, you play off the ball a lot. In college, I was playing point guard, had the ball in my hands. So a lot of the time I was driving. So it's still an instinct of mine to attack, make plays and stuff like that. But it's just a feel. If I can get my shot off and I'm feeling it, I'll let it go. If I'm not, then I'll drive it."

Pritchard has seen a small uptick in his assists since the break. He’s gone from 1.7 to 2.3, so when he drives it, he’s finding teammates. But that’s generally not going to be his game.

His role is to shoot the ball and make defenders pay for leaving him to double Tatum or Brown. The more he hits, the more hesitant players will be to leave, and that will ultimately give Boston’s stars the space they need to attack and score in bunches. 

However, Pritchard does present a potential weakness on the floor. 

At 6’2”, any minutes he gets on the floor could make him a target for mismatches. It’s something he’s aware of, and takes to heart. 

“People, because of my size and stuff, they want to say, I hear it all the time like I can't defend or something,” he said. “So, I got a chip on my shoulder in that aspect. I'm out to prove that I'm not somebody you can go at. I'm gonna come and compete and make it tough.”

Jordan Clarkson found that out. 

If Marcus Smart chest bumps you after a defensive possession, you know you’ve done something right. 

He’s actually done a lot right lately, and the Celtics are hoping that can carry on into the playoffs. Considering how we got here, it’s not out of the question to keep this train rolling along.

"Payton is really finding his role, finding his rhythm being the shot maker," Brown said. "He's been playing incredible. We need that."