Celtics News: Jaylen Brown Praises Payton Pritchard While Taking Jab at NBA Great

Ricardo Klein | Dec 3, 2024

Jan 29, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) and guard Payton Pritchard (11) battle for the ball during the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images / Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

The Boston Celtics are the deepest team in the league. The Celtics are picking up right where they left off, thanks to their Sixth Man of the Year candidate, Payton Pritchard.

Pritchard has had a stellar start to the 2024-25 season and is on pace to be the Sixth Man of the Year. The Celtics have a ton of players who complement their team well, and Pritchard fits that bill to a tee.

The 26-year-old is a significant clog for the best team in the NBA, and he's proving so with his play night in and night out. The Celtics are great because of this play, especially shooting from beyond the arc.

Pritchard is shooting lights out, so much that he has made more threes this season than future Hall of Famer and NBA great Warriors guard Stephen Curry.

Celtics star guard Jaylen Brown took to Instagram to praise his teammate, Pritchard, but also took a jab at Curry.

Jaylen Brown on IG pic.twitter.com/ZviJSbFdxi

— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) December 3, 2024

Pritchard has 15 more made threes than Cuirry in the season thus far, 78-63.

His last game against the Miami Heat was no different. He became the first player in the NBA this season to score 20-plus points in four straight games off the bench and the first Celtics player to do so since Isaiah Thomas in 2015.

Pritchard was lights out on Monday, recording 25 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block. He has been tremendous in the season, averaging 16.4 points per game, 3.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.1 steals while shooting 48 percent from the field and 43 percent from three.

If he continues this trend, he could have more threes than Curry in the season. Curry is the all-time leader in three-pointers made with 3,810.

Curry is the lone leader in that category, and it's not even close as James Harden comes in second place with 3,004. Both were drafted in the same 2009 draft class.

It's unclear if Pritchard can remain ahead of Curry, but there is no questioning his value to Boston. The Celtics drafted him from Oregon State University with the No. 26 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

He is in his fifth year with the Celtics and helped lead them to their 18th title in franchise history in 2024.

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