Celtics Forward Claims He Predicted Payton Pritchard’s Hot Start This Season

Jeremy Hanna | 6 Hours Ago

Dec 2, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard (11) goes to the basket past Miami Heat guard Pelle Larsson (9) during the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images / Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

After becoming the 2024 NBA Champions, the Boston Celtics are continuing to excel in the 2024-25 NBA season, currently sitting at second place in the Eastern Conference with a 17-4 record, the second-best record in the NBA.

This is largely because of the return of star players, including forward Jayson Tatum, guard Jaylen Brown, and point guard Jrue Holiday.

The biggest surprise this season has been point guard Payton Pritchard. Despite not being a starter, he is currently one of the five best scorers on the team, averaging 16.4 points per game. On top of that, he is averaging 3.1 total rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.

This is a vast improvement over last season where Pritchard averaged 9.6 points, 3.2 total rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 0.5 steals.

Pritchard's sudden offensive success has caught NBA fans and analysts off guard. However, forward Sam Hauser says that it hasn't surprised him at all.

"I saw this coming," Hauser said, per Zack Cox of The Boston Herald. "He's a special player, and he's finally, I guess, got his feet underneath him to where he just has the opportunity and ability to just show himself and prove himself to everyone else, even though everyone in the building already knew that he was capable of these things."

Anyone who followed Pritchard in college also wouldn't be surprised by this sudden burst in production. In his junior year, he was named second-team All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 tournament ost Outstanding Player.

However, his best college season came in his senior year, where Pritchard averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 assists, 4.3 total rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. He was first team All-Pac-12, a consensus first-team All-American, and Pac-12 Player of the Year.

Pritchard was also awarded the Bob Cousy Award, naming him the top collegiate point guard in 2020, and the Lute Olson Award, recognizing him as the top men's college basketball player in 2020.

After skipping the 2019 NBA Draft, Pritchard was selected in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Celtics with the 26th overall pick. In his first NBA season, he averaged 7.7 points, 2.4 total rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 0.6 steals.

Now, Pritchard is an early favorite for NBA Sixth Man of the Year. In the end, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra explained Pritchard's success the best.

“Everybody wants instant gratification," Spoelstra said, per Justin Turpin of WEEI. This guy has been grinding and working year after year, and each year he’s gotten better… All of a sudden, he’s getting to this level where he’s in Sixth Man of the Year conversations.”

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