Payton Pritchard's half-court shot at the end of the third quarter of Game 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals came as little surprise to anyone who's followed the Boston Celtics guard all season.
Pritchard has always energized his team off the bench with key 3-pointers, including a buzzer-beater from half-court, and Sunday's game happened to come on the biggest stage of all.
Payton Pritchard was once again in a crucial late-quarter moment, this time with a half-court three-pointer before the third-quarter buzzer-beater in Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.
C's head coach Joe Mazzulla praised Pritchard's shooting after his team's 105-98 win.
“I think you can't overlook the play of the game, the humility of our team, and that's the shot that Peyton made at the end of the quarter,” Mazzulla said. “Guys around the league will pass on that shot or pretend they want to make it so the numbers don't get messed up, but he takes pride in making the shot and that's winning basketball.”
Pritchard is one of the best players in the NBA at the end of the quarter, and the numbers prove it. Per Taylor Snow of Celtics.com, Pritchard and teammate Jayson Tatum Tied for first place in the league This season, he has made nine three-pointers in the final four seconds of the first quarter.
He should have had a solitary lead of 10 points, but one of his two buzzer-beaters from half-court against the Washington Wizards on Feb. 9 was just a millisecond too late.
Unsurprisingly, Pritchard is brimming with confidence with the ball in his hands and the clock ticking down.
“Joe put me in with three seconds left, so I love those moments,” Pritchard told NBC Sports Boston's Abby Chin after the Game 2 win. “I live for those moments, so I made the most of it.”
Pritchard's half-court shot was his only point in 12 minutes on Sunday, but it was arguably the most important point of the game for the Celtics. Boston carried that momentum into the fourth quarter to beat the Dallas Mavericks and take a 2-0 series lead.
The Celtics will be looking to go 3-0 against Dallas on Wednesday as no team has ever come back from a three-game deficit in an NBA playoff series.
