The Boston Celtics are the defending NBA champions, and by many accounts, are a top favorite to repeat. While the Celtics have star power in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they boast a deep roster with multiple players capable of having big games. One of those players for the Celtics is Payton Pritchard, who is fresh off winning the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award.

Payton Pritchard has steadily improved each season, and he spoke about what winning Sixth Man means, ahead of the Celtics’ Game 2 against the Orlando Magic.

“It just shows that I feel like I’m on the right path,” Pritchard said. “The hard work that I put in, the grind and everything, it’s paying off. And so it just shows me that I’m going to continue to do what I’m gonna do.”

In the Celtics’ Game 1 win against the Magic in the opening round of the playoff series, Pritchard finished with 19 points and three assists in 25 minutes off the bench. He shot 6-of-8 from the field, 4-0f-6 from the three-point line and a perfect 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. He was the Celtics’ second leading scorer in the game behind Derrick White’s 30 points.

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Early in Game 2, he had six points and was the third leading scorer so far behind the 12 points apiece for Brown and Kristaps Porzingis.

On the season, Pritchard appeared in 80 games, including three starts, at a little over 28 minutes per game. He averaged a career-high 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists with splits of 47.2 percent shooting from the field, 40.7 percent shooting from the three-point line and 84.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

Pritchard was originally selected with the No. 26 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, and he’s played five seasons now for the Celtics. In addition to his points, his assists and rebounds are career-highs as well.