Payton Pritchard only scored six points on Wednesday, but the rookie came up with the biggest shot of his young career to send the Boston Celtics to a 107-105 victory over the Miami Heat.
With time winding down and the score knotted at 105, Celtics guard Marcus Smart drove into the lane with the opportunity to win. However, his layup attempt was heavily contested and missed off the backboard.
As Smart was driving, Pritchard came from the corner to crash the boards in case of a miss. He wasn’t picked up by the Heat, allowing him to come in and clean up the miss by Smart. His putback just got off in time with 0.2 seconds left to take the win.
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The play by Pritchard helped save the Celtics from blowing a 17-point first-half lead versus the Heat. He mostly struggled from the field, converting on 3-of-10 shots, but added six rebounds and four assists in 20 minutes off the bench.
Pritchard has emerged as an important player off the bench this season. He has often given the Celtics a spark with his energy and scoring potential, which was on full display in the previous game when he scored a career-high 23 points.
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