Doc Rivers couldn't believe his team wasn't locked in on this Celtics player

Payton Pritchard rescued the Boston Celtics Monday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. Boston had finally had a pedestrian shooting night from beyond the arc, and found themselves in a close game with Milwaukee.

Enter Payton Pritchard. Pritchard shot 8-for-12 from beyond the arc in Boston's 119-108 win over the Bucks, and Milwaukee head coach Doc Rivers couldn't believe it.

"This morning I literally circled his name, like this guy comes in and he's a game changer," Rivers said. "I don't know if you remember last year we had a six point lead and he came in and changed the whole game he did it again tonight."

Rivers added that he loved how Milwaukee was defending the three, but Pritchard essentially broke the seal and got the Celtics going from deep. Pritchard finished with 28 points, hitting eight threes. One of those threes beat the third-quarter buzzer, something Pritchard is now known for.

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Through the Celtics first four games this season, Pritchard is averaging 16.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He's been a very effective sixth-man for Boston, averaging 25 minutes per game.

Pritchard signed a four-year, $30 million contract with the Celtics in October 2023 and was an integral part of the championship-clinching win over the Dallas Mavericks in June. Pritchard hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the second quarter of Game 5 that sealed the Celtics 18th championship.

The 4-0 Celtics will head to Indiana for a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals Wednesday. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

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