Payton Pritchard had a rare chance to take a leading role on Friday night with the Celtics usual starting five getting the night off. The point guard made the most of that opportunity, scoring a career-high 31 points and 11 assists in a 131-98 rout over the Hornets at TD Garden.
Pritchard’s impressive stat line came with a special asterisk as he became the first Celtic since Larry Bird to post 30 points and 10 assists in a game while playing just 31 minutes. Pritchard rested the entire fourth quarter of the blowout win but did most of his work early in the victory, becoming jut the second player in the NBA this year to have 23 points and nine assists by halftime according to C’s stats guru Dick Lipe.
It was a night of career-highs for several Celtics as Neemias Queta, Drew Peterson and Jordan Walsh all set new marks for themselves but Pritchard stood out from the pack for setting the pace for Boston’s offense.
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“Taking what the defense gives me, hitting my spots when open, and getting my teammates involved,” Pritchard said. “I think I ended up with like five assists in the first quarter. Everybody was getting a shot up and getting comfortable. It wasn’t like I was ball-dominant the entire time, so I was proud of that.”
Pritchard has become one of the most consistent Celtics on the roster this year in a reserve role as he’s set to play a full 82 games on Sunday while being handed constant minutes for the first time since his rookie year.
“It definitely helps a lot,” Pritchard said of the steady role. “I mean, for any player, you get spot minutes, it’s tough. You don’t know when it’s gonna come. When you do get minutes, like what is your role out there? What are you being put out there for? I think in the past, a lot of the time it wasn’t necessarily for me to be like a point guard or even like a playmaker. It was really to try to come in and hit some 3s and bring energy defensively, rebounding, stuff like that. I think my role has definitely grown a little bit this year. With that, I’ve grown and been better at playmaking. But just making the game easier for myself, but also my teammates.”
Pritchard will likely get another big chance on Sunday afternoon against the Wizards in the regular season finale with Boston’s regulars likely seeing light workloads, if they play at all. Don’t look for the point guard to seek out any rest though in Boston’s final tuneup before the postseason.
“It’s definitely a big accomplishment for me,” Pritchard explained. “Like I said before, to play 82 games is tough, but through the summer, the work I put in to get my body ready for that. But also the journey for me, last year, in my second year of times where I didn’t play at all and how frustrating that is and how much that hurt at times. But it just fueled me to keep working, and for this year to come and play 82 games and be a part of the best team in the NBA and try to do something special, it feels good.”
