How about that Celtics half-court shot? Teammates celebrate Payton Pritchard's buzzer beater
BOSTON -- Payton Pritchard did it again. The Celtics guard drained another deep heave at the buzzer in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night as Boston went on to win the 18th title in franchise history.
With the Celtics pouring it on the Dallas Mavericks in the closing seconds of the first half at TD Garden, the Boston backup point guard checked in and did his thing. With just two seconds on the clock, Al Horford collected the rebound off a Luka Doncic missed free throw, fed it to Pritchard, and the guard did the rest.
Pritchard sent up a shot from beyond half-court and hit nylon, putting the Celtics on top 67-46 at the break.
Celtics star Jaylen Brown was heaped praise on Pritchard after Boston won the title.
"We had an excellent game plan in the Finals, and then all of the guys contributed. Like, for example, like Payton Pritchard, like unreal, right. Unreal. Like just comes in the game and drains one from halfcourt," Brown said. "That dude, he's a f---ing legend, man. Shout out to Payton Pritchard."
Several NBA players took to X to comment on Pritchard's make, plus a few other athletes from around the sports world.
Pritchard clearly has a particular set of skills that help him in his such situations, as his halftime make on Monday was his second deep heave hit of the series. He checked in at the end of the third quarter of Game 2 last week and banked it in just inside of mid-court, giving the Celtics a nine-point edge heading into the fourth quarter. Those were Pritchard's only points of Boston's Game 2 victory.
His deep make ahead of halftime was Pritchard's only shot in the first half of Game 5. The Celtics were feeling it from downtown in the first half on Monday night, connecting on 10 of their 21 attempts from three-point land as they look to close out the Mavericks and win an NBA title.
