Payton Pritchard has been the Celtics’ Ned Flanders the past couple of games.
… yeah, I know that's a weird way to start this piece. Follow me here …
Flanders had to save Homer Simpson not once, but twice, from a burning building. Getting him out once, and then, when he happened to flip back into the house, resigning himself to another challenge and doing it again.
Two days ago, the Celtics were in their own burning building, courtesy of a 16-2 opening run by the Nets. Pritchard came in and hit a first-quarter 3 to help tamp down some of the flames, and then dropped 11 in the second quarter to settle things down so Jayson Tatum could take over in the second half.
The Celtics flipped back into fire thanks to Milwaukee’s 16-2 run this afternoon, and once again it was Pritchard who bailed them out. He had five points and two assists in the first and then 12 points on 4-6 shooting from deep in the second.
But more than that, Pritchard is a pest. A disruptor. When the other team feels a little too comfortable, a dose of Pritchard is like a rock in their sneakers. And doing it when the rest of the Celtics are off to a less-than-stellar start to the game is especially important. He’ll pick someone up full court if he has to, just to throw off the timing of their offense.
“He’s been carrying us for stretches of the game with both his ball-pressure and his shooting,” Joe Mazzulla said after the game. “That kind of kept us around … because of Payton and because of our second-quarter defense, that gave us a chance to come out in the second half and compete at a high level.”
Competing is what Pritchard is here to do. His drive is second to none. He might be as crazy as Mazzulla but without the quotes. There is nothing he wants to do more than play basketball, and when he’s done playing basketball, he’ll unwind by playing more basketball.
“I feel like I'm probably the most competitive on our team,” he said earlier this season. “I hate losing in anything. I want to win at everything. It doesn't matter if we’re playing wiffleball before practice, I want to win. So it's how I've always been, and it's probably why I'm here today.”
Jrue Holiday says Pritchard might be the hardest non-Tatum Celtic to guard. On Friday, Holiday said the Celtics do a drill where they simply have to try to guard Pritchard full court. That means no matter what a team like Milwaukee throws at him, Pritchard will undoubtedly be ready because he’s guarding, and being guarded by, some of the best defenders in the league on a regular basis in practice.
“I get to go against the best every day,” Pritchard said last month. “I don't know what my future will hold just because of what I get to go against and craft myself through that -- by failing over and over and then getting better for that."
The shooting is the biggest thing, though. And it’s not just the run-of-the-mill, 23-feet, nine-inch 3-pointers. In this game, he hit a couple of 27-footers. I know that isn’t shocking considering his penchant for hitting heaves, but it’s still incredible.
He’s hitting 43% of his 3-pointers this season (literally 43 of 100 at the moment), but he’s 45% on shots between 25-29 feet. If you filter out the 30-plus foot shots, he’s shooting better than 47% from deep.
“Payton has been excellent this year. He's played as good as anybody,” Jaylen Brown said after the game. “The way he’s been shooting the ball, the way he's been making plays for our team, has been incredible. His growth has been great to watch.
Pritchard has scored 182 points off the bench this season, 38 more than any other reserve in the league. His 43 made 3-pointers off the bench is 12 more than any other reserve. He’s the first player in Celtics history to have at least 15 points and three 3-pointers off the bench in five-straight games.
I normally hate awards talk before Christmas, but there's a reason the Sixth Man of the Year buzz has already started.
He is a bench player who has to be guarded, which makes things very difficult on the other team. It’s one more threat on a team full of them … which is why he’s going to remain a bench player no matter how well he plays.
“Payton has been making those steps, and he's a big time player, “Brown said. “On other team, I think Payton is a guy that can contribute heavily offensively just because of his ability to make plays. So for him to be able to weather the storm and be ready when his name is called on this team, it’s big time for us.”
One my favorite things to talk about is how clutch play doesn't have to happen in the fourth quarter. Pritchard's last two second quarters are examples of that. Boston was listless and they needed a spark, so Mazzulla called on Pritchard, who never seems to be lacking energy. Once again he held things together until the rest of the team caught up.