PHILADELPHIA — With just over a minute to play and the Celtics holding a two-point lead, it looked like Jayson Tatum was dribbling out the clock.
Then, with less than 3 seconds left on the shot clock, he passed to Payton Pritchard, who was standing in the corner. Pritchard had not yet scored in the fourth quarter. He’d only attempted one shot the entire period.
But, with the clock winding down and the weight of Game 3 on the line, he was in his element.
“I was like, JT threw me a grenade!” Pritchard
said with a smile. “I like grenades, though. I live for those moments.”
Pritchard took one dribble, stepped back, and pulled up like he has done so many times this season. The ball splashed through the net.
Tatum shoved him in celebration, and Pritchard immediately started to talk emphatically, though he claims he couldn’t remember exactly what he said.
“I probably blacked out in that moment,” Pritchard said.
In a way, it was fitting that it was Pritchard of all people who hit what — at the time — was the biggest shot of the night, with the clock winding down.
Since his famous half-court shot in the 2024 Finals, the 6’1 guard has earned the rightful reputation as one of the sport’s best buzzer-beating scorers.
No player in the NBA scored more points in the final four seconds of the shot clock than Pritchard this season.
Pritchard tallied 203 points on 89 for 204 shooting (43.6 percent) in late shot clock situations, leading the entire NBA in all three categories, per NBC Sports Boston. The next-most productive late shot clock scorer? Jalen Brunson, who scored 175 points in such situations.
“It’s almost like a clock in my mind, of how much time— if I have one, two dribbles or something like that,” Pritchard said. “So in that instance, I knew I only had about one dribble, pump fake, side-step. It’s the ability to see the clock and then just have a clock in your mind.”
These are the kinds of scenarios Pritchard practices in his summer 1-on-1 basketball runs.
“I’ve been playing this game for so long. I know how, like, quick my moves [are],” Pritchard said, explaining he emulates different scenarios with different amounts of time left on the clock. “I know how much time it takes to get to certain spots.”
For Pritchard, Game 3 also served as somewhat of a bounce-back game. He hit 5 three-pointers — three of which came in the second half — and was tied with Jordan Walsh for a team-best +18.
That came on the heels of a Game 2 in which he scored just 4 points on 2-8 shooting and was a team-worst -15.
“I was really disappointed in how I came out in Game 2,” Pritchard said. “I just was flat. I did not give the game what it needed, or my team, and it hurt us.“
Still, in Joe Mazzulla’s eyes, while Pritchard’s clutch shotmaking was great, it was far from the only thing that stood out in Game 3.
“Payton’s defense is one of the most underrated things. He can’t be defined by shooting – his defense has been elite in two out of the three games,” Mazzulla said, referencing Games 1 and 3. “And it’s big-time to where he can handle a bigger role. He could be spaced. I thought the shot that he hit was big, because, like you said, he hadn’t been involved much offensively. We found him, and he made it.”
Just like he’d done countless times before, Pritchard beat the buzzer.
And, he didn’t ponder the enormity of the moment after the ball went through the net, or where it stood among his most important shots as a Celtic — because he wants it to be the first of many.
“I knew it was a big shot,” Pritchard said. “It was needed in the moment. But, hopefully, I can hit more like that.”
