Payton Pritchard’s ‘Unreal’ NBA Finals Shot Had Celtics In Awe

BOSTON — Payton Pritchard hit only one shot in the title-clinching win for the Boston Celtics on Monday night at TD Garden.

He sure made it count.

Pritchard yet again delivered a back-breaking blow to the Dallas Mavericks by drilling a half-court, buzzer-beating shot at the end of the first half in Boston’s 106-88 Game 5 win at TD Garden.

Pritchard, who also drained a buzzer-beating triple near half-court in Game 2 of the Finals, amped up his teammates by pulling off his long-range marksmanship again.

“Payton Pritchard, like unreal, right? Unreal,” Jaylen Brown said. “Just comes in the game and drains one from half-court. That dude, he’s a (expletive) legend, man.”

Pritchard’s tidal wave 3-pointer capped a 39-point second quarter for Boston and gave the Celtics a resounding 67-46 halftime lead. And Al Horford, whose teammates were equally thrilled for as he won the first NBA title of his 17-year career, could see just how deflated the Mavericks were watching Pritchard’s shot fall in.

“Man, that was beautiful,” Horford said. “He did that and you take a glance at the other team and it’s one of those that breaks your spirit, and then it just kind of fueled us. But Payton, man, that just sums it up. It was ups and downs for him, not knowing what to expect, when to play, when not to play. He’s the kind of guy that he is a big-time player, and it’s hard because we have a lot of guys.

“But man, him stepping up, cold, ready, not afraid of the moment, taking the shot. And man, as soon as he shot it, like I don’t know how you guys saw it, but I was like, ‘Man, he’s about to knock it down. Like this is crazy.'”

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Pritchard hadn’t seen any action in Game 5 until he checked in for Derrick White with four seconds to go in the half. He took a pass from Horford and quickly made his way up court before getting off his shot with plenty of time to spare.

Pritchard didn’t see the court again until the final seconds ticked off the clock, but Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla felt Pritchard had already cemented his impact on the contest.

“I think he won us moments,” Mazzulla said. “As the playoffs go on, obviously some patterns change and things change, but those guys have to win moments of games for you, and Payton did that twice for us. That is just as important as any other plays that happened throughout the series and in the playoffs alone. I’ve got a huge heart for him.”