Payton Pritchard has become one of the most important offensive engines for the Celtics. Even with Jayson Tatum getting set to return, Boston needs him to produce.
Since Pritchard moved to the bench, the Celtics are 8-0 in games in which he scored 20+ points in and just 2-3 in games in which he scores 9 or less. Interestingly, Pritchard has not scored between 10-19 points since moving to the bench — it has been all boom or bust.
After trading Anfernee Simons, the Celtics don’t have the offensive juice
to withstand bad performances from Pritchard, especially against good teams, which is when all of Pritchard’s duds seem to happen.
Yes, Jayson Tatum is coming back and he will help. That doesn’t change that if the Celtics are going to accomplish what they want to accomplish, they’ll need Pritchard to produce.
So why has he had these bad games?
A lot of these games are because he is taking less shots. Pritchard took 6 shots in the Nuggets loss, 4 shots in the Sixers game and 6 shots in the Hornets loss.
Confidence is a fragile thing that even the best players in the world deal with and Payton is no exception.
Almost impossible but true…
— Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) March 5, 2026
Payton Pritchard entered this past week with two career games of 24 minutes or more without scoring.
It happened tonight for the second time in three games.
He isn’t taking a bunch of bad shots right now, either. The shots he is missing are the ones he usually makes.
— #LetsGoCeltics (@gobosceltics) March 5, 2026
— #LetsGoCeltics (@gobosceltics) March 5, 2026
He has to take and make these looks, because the Celtics are relying on him in a big way to be super productive. He can’t have these types of games when they matter in the playoffs.
For the season, Payton Pritchard is scoring 115.3 points for every 100 shots he takes. That ranks in the 70th percentile according to Cleaning the Glass. However, over the last 6 games, he is scoring 88.9 points per 100 shot attempts, which ranks in the 5th percentile.
He is also shooting 35.5% from two-point range over his last 6 games, which is among the worst in the NBA and down 20.8% from the 56.3% he typically is from inside the arc.
This is a slump, a major slump, but one that I have a lot of confidence he will get through.
I don’t think different coverages have created the recent struggles for Payton. I haven’t noticed any big changes as to the way teams are covering him.
You could chalk it up to bad shot luck. Pritchard is still getting good looks but he has just missed them in recent games. The NBA is a long season and you are going to have weeks that you struggle in and your confidence is a bit shaken.
However, there is one big question that remains: why does Pritchard struggle against good teams?
That seems like an oxymoron with a simple answer. Good teams have better players than bad teams do, which means they have better defenders, which makes it harder to score. If you are going to have an off night, it is more likely to come against a good team rather than a bad one.
Yet, I do think there are reasons to worry.
He has been bad against the Knicks this season, and that is a team the Celtics are probably going to play in the playoffs. Two of his worst games of the season came against the 76ers, a team that very well may be the Celtics first round opponent.
Boston is going to be relying on him in a big way to produce offense in the playoffs in ways they have never relied on him before.
His shooting percentages say that there isn’t any reason to worry about him in the playoffs. They are pretty constant, and good, in the regular season and the postseason.
I don’t think it is time to panic. Pritchard is a really good player that has been awesome for the last two seasons. However, I have my doubts and worries and this stretch has not eased those.
Maybe, this is a slump that he gets out of and he is awesome in playoffs. Maybe, we should be concerned and his play dips in the playoffs as the Celtics are bounced early. Either way, the playoffs always expose your biggest weaknesses and they will answer any questions we have about Pritchard in due time.
