Boston Celtics rookie point guard Payton Pritchard had himself a night against the Toronto Raptors, picking up the slack when his number was called when several Celtics had to take the night off to nurse some minor injuries.
The Oregon product scored a career-high 23 points and 8 assists in a career that’s yet to hit a month in terms of age — a surprisingly promising prospect if ever there was one for the Celtics in recent years. Even more noteworthy, Pritchard was exceptionally efficient in his scoring, going 8-of-13 from the field overall, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe in his best performance yet as a Celtic.
WATCH: Celtics Tatum, Brown, Pritchard FULL highlights vs Raptors 1/4 https://t.co/FoBdwg9RH5
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 5, 2021
That he did it with only 3 turnovers and 2 personal fouls in 32 minutes of game play for a + 18 plus/minus is even more impressive given this is just his eighth game in the league.
“I do my hard work, stay ready for any opportunity that comes away and that’s when I try to help my team win,” he observed after the game.
And it’s evidently already paying dividends.
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