The Big Lead

Payton Pritchard is making an early case for an NBA award

By Max Weisman

Pritchard seems to be on his way to winning Sixth Man of the Year
Pritchard seems to be on his way to winning Sixth Man of the Year / Winslow Townson-Imagn Images
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Are the Boston Celtics fair? After a dominant run to their 18th championship last spring, the Celtics returned their same starting lineup and a few key bench players this season, including guard Payton Pritchard. Pritchard, who has made a name for himself in the buzzer-beater department, is also making an early case for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award.

In the Celtics' 108-89 win over the Miami Heat on Monday night, Pritchard scored 25 points on 10-17 shooting, including five made threes. Over his last four games, Pritchard is averaging 24.5 points per game, including one in which he shot 62% from the field. He's come off the bench in all of them.

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This season, Pritchard is averaging 16.4 points, 2.9 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game. If he can keep that up, and nothing we've seen from him this season is indicating he can't, he will have improved his points per game output by around seven points from last season, when he averaged 9.6 per game. He's already doubled the number of threes he makes per game, an increase from 1.8 a season ago to 3.7 so far this season, and has recorded nine games with five or more made threes.

Pritchard has also recorded eight 20-point games so far this season and hasn't started a single one of Boston's 21 games. When inserted into the game, fans, players and coaches know he's going to shoot the three, and yet there seems to be nothing they can do about it. He's shooting 43.1% from beyond the arc and his three-point shooting ability has kept the Celtics in games in which they were losing or helped them pull away from teams in what turns into a blowout win.

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Pritchard has the best odds to win Sixth Man of the Year at +190. Next in line is Warriors guard Buddy Hield at +500. Payton Pritchard will come off the bench for the Celtics next against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.

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