Payton Pritchard was ice-cold for the Boston Celtics on Opening Night, but the undersized guard rediscovered his footing from the perimeter during Thursday night’s easy-breezy victory over the Washington Wizards.
Pritchard shot an efficient 5-of-11 from the field, leading Boston’s reserve unit with 15 points to go along with a rebound and two assists in 28 minutes. All five of Pritchard’s makes were from 3-point range, but there was one shot attempt from roughly three-quarters court that nearly beat the buzzer to end the third quarter. Of course, this isn’t the first time Pritchard’s drained a half-court heave but doing so yet again — even if not acknowledged in the history books this time — left Pritchard thinking.
“I think they should implement that in the NBA,” Pritchard said postgame, per CLNS Media. “Cause I mean, it’s a shot like, obviously it’s not a normal 3-point shot so some guys don’t take it cause it’ll hurt their percentages. I don’t worry about the percentage of it cause it can change the whole momentum of the game. It’s not a bad rule to maybe look like. I honestly think maybe past half-court they should think about adding it as a four-point play. I mean, it can be interesting.”
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The newly introduced rule Pritchard refers to comes in the G League and it exempts any player’s shooting percentage from taking a hit once a shot attempt from 36 feet or further is taken within the final three seconds of the first three quarters. We’ve witnessed time and time again players refusing to even touch the ball to end a quarter to prevent a turnover or dog-walk the ball to run out the clock and protect their field goal percentage, but not Pritchard.
Boston’s scrappy energy bunny views those last-second possessions as valuable opportunities to deliver an unforeseen blow to opposing teams, and it’s worked for Pritchard and the Celtics, even on the biggest stage.
During Boston’s NBA Finals-clinching Game 5 win over the Dallas Mavericks, Pritchard sunk a half-court buzzer-beater (from 49 feet) to send the Celtics into halftime with a 67-46 advantage. It put Pritchard’s name in a place very few Celtics players have ever reached with a shot that’ll be remembered for generations to come.
So,. does Pritchard actually practice shooting from beyond half-court?
“No, never. Never,” Pritchard admitted, per CLNS Media. “I feel like it’s just like a moment. You get it and I really just believe I can make it. And I feel like that’s half the battle is just believing in it and giving it a chance. Now I’ve seen a couple go in and I’m going to take them every time. I feel like it just changes the momentum even if I hit it and it’s after the buzzer. The crowd gets into it.”
So, no Pritchard doesn’t practice the jaw-dropping race-to-the-clock hoists from half-court, however, don’t expect him to stop attempting them anytime soon.
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