Payton Pritchard scores career-high 38 points in Celtics' 132-122 win over Wizards
By KEN POWTAK
BOSTON - Payton Pritchard scored a career-high 38 points and the NBA-best Boston Celtics rested their entire starting lineup in a 132-122 victory over the Washington Wizards on Sunday in the teams' regular-season finale.
Svi Mykhailiuk added 26 points and Sam Hauser 16 for Boston, which sat Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday along with top reserve Al Horford.
Pritchard added 12 assists with nine rebounds. In last year's final regular-season game, the 6-foot-1 Pritchard had a triple-double with 30 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, joining Larry Bird and John Havlicek as the only Celtics with at least 30 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in a game.
The Celtics (64-18) finished their 15th season in club history with 60 or more wins, the most recent in 2008 when they captured the NBA title.
Having lost Game 7 at home against Miami in the Eastern Conference finals last spring, anything less than a trip to the NBA Finals this year would very likely be viewed as a disappointment.
The Wizards (15-67) ended their third straight season and fifth in the past six without a playoff berth. Eugene Omoruyi led them with 26 points and Jared Butler had 22 in their sixth straight loss.
Pritchard played all 82 games this season. He scored 14 points in the final 2:19 of the opening half, connecting on all four of his 3-point attempts to give Boston a 69-59 halftime edge.
At halftime, the Celtics honored TV play-by-play announcer, Mike Gorman, who is retiring after his 43rd season calling their games. There were many tributes on the Jumbotron from former Boston players and folks around the NBA during timeouts.
UP NEXT
Wizards: Season over.
Celtics: Await their first-round playoff opponent for next Sunday.
