The Boston Celtics closed out their 2022-23 regular season on Easter Sunday in exhilarating fashion, as the title favorites pulled out a hard-fought 120-114 win over the play-in-bound Atlanta Hawks. No Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown proved to be no problem for Joe Mazzulla's squad, as they were guided to victory by the heroic efforts of third-year guard, Payton Pritchard.
Despite an up-and-down campaign, when called upon for the spot start the 25-year-old put forth a career-best effort. Against Atlanta, Pritchard recorded his first-ever NBA triple-double, finishing the contest with 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists while shooting 47.6% from the field and 56.3% from deep.
Following the triumphant outing, the point guard discussed his approach to staying prepared for when his name is called while dealing with a mightily inconsistent role.
“You know, I think [for] any player there's going to be ups and downs and I think every NBA player goes through it. But I think it's through those down parts how you approach it,” Payton Pritchard said. “A lot of it is frustrating and I've went through a lot of frustrating times but I always went back to the work and finding little areas to always get better and when I get opportunities like this I try to show it and I always say it's from my work from a young age and that's all I go back to.”
After establishing himself as a quality role player for the Boston Celtics through his first two seasons with the club, Payton Pritchard has seen his role within the rotation diminish considerably now in year three.
Through 48 games played, in 13.4 minutes a night the point guard is posting averages of 5.6 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists while shooting 41.2% from the field and 36.4% from deep, all of which mark as career lows.
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