The Boston Celtics suffered a controversial 98-96 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Monday, but it wasn’t Payton Pritchard’s fault.
With Jaylen Brown sidelined by low back spasms, Pritchard stepped up in his absence. After scoring just four points in his previous game, the 27-year-old guard bounced back with 23 points on 10 of 22 shooting. He also had eight assists, four rebounds, two steals and didn’t turn the ball over.
Pritchard now has 13 career games with at least 20 points and zero turnovers — the most in Celtics history by a point guard. Four of those games have come this season.
Pritchard’s scoring has improved this year in Jayson Tatum’s absence. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year has flourished as a regular starter for the first time in his career, averaging a personal-best 17.0 points per game.
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Pritchard’s always done a great job of taking care of the basketball, and that hasn’t changed this season. He’s averaging just 1.1 turnovers per game this year and has only one turnover during his last six games combined. Meanwhile, he has 35 assists during the same span — a remarkable assist-to-turnover ratio.
Pritchard will look to continue his stellar campaign during Thursday’s road game against the Miami Heat.
Featured image via Paul Rutherford/Imagn Images
