Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday is so convinced that Payton Pritchard is the Sixth Man of the Year that, if the John Havlicek trophy isn’t sitting inside the Auerbach Center by early May, then Holiday is calling shenanigans.
“If he’s not Sixth Man of the year, then this is rigged,” said Holiday.
“My man, he’s breaking records … We really need him and I think he's realized that we really need what he brings to our team, in terms of scoring and playmaking and big-shot making. So it's really cool to see, just even the elevation from last year to this year, to be able to take that big of a leap is pretty cool.”
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Earlier this month, Pritchard broke the NBA record for most 3-pointers off the bench in a single season. Even after a spot start in his native Portland on Sunday night, 232 of Pritchard's 236 3-pointers this season have come off the bench as he leaves Wayne Ellington’s previous record mark of 218 bench 3s in the rearview mirror.
The next record in Pritchard's sight could be besting the Celtics’ single-season record for 3-pointers made. He’s jockeying with teammates Jayson Tatum and Derrick White for a new franchise record, and might have the edge if those two veterans get rest to the finish line of the season. Tatum sprained his left ankle in Monday night’s win in Sacramento.
Pritchard leads the NBA in bench points at 997. He will soon become only the fourth Celtics player in team history to score 1,000 points off the bench in a season (Kevin McHale did it 3 times; Ricky Davis and Malcolm Brogdon each did it once).
Pritchard’s 22 games with 5-plus 3-pointers this season is a franchise record. His 20 games with 20+ points off the bench leads the NBA this season. Earlier this month, Pritchard and White became the first Celtics duo in team history to score 40 points apiece in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
After early foul trouble limited his output in Portland on Sunday during his lone start of the year, Pritchard joked that maybe he needs to stick to coming off the bench.
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Holiday has loved watching Pritchard’s progress.
“We talked about it, I think his first points were against [Milwaukee] when I was with the Bucks. And I think it was a 3,” said Holiday, who was indeed on the floor when Pritchard drilled a second-quarter triple for his first career points in his NBA debut on Dec. 23, 2020.
"I think to be able to witness that and see, even a time like that where he wasn't playing much, you could see that everybody kind of has potential. And him just being steady, stay working, you could see. If it’s off-days or optional [workout] days, he's still in the gym. He’s not taking any days off. He wants to be the best player he can, and I think that means a lot. I don't think he does it just for himself. I think he does it for our team.”
Holiday doesn’t need any reminders on how competitive Pritchard can be.
"I used to play against Payton, so the times that I've seen him play and played against him, you could tell that he's always had a chip,” said Holiday. "And I'm pretty sure, even in terms of being shorter, he has always had that dog in him.
"To be his teammate, I’m glad to be on his side.”