Payton Pritchard is making a name for himself this season, beyond the buzzer-beating shots from half court. 

The 6’1 guard, now in his fifth NBA season, is delivering career-best scoring numbers for the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics. Already a supremely confident player, Pritchard has taken his boldness to another level this season and it is paying off handsomely for him. 

Pritchard’s points per game has taken a significant jump, from 9.6 last season to 16.5 over his first 25 appearances in the ‘24-‘25 campaign, highlighted by a significant uptick in his efficiency with career-high shooting percentages of 48.8% from the field, 43.2% on threes, and 67.7% on two-pointers.

The improvement in the 26-year-old guard’s shooting numbers is even more impressive when considering that he is taking almost double the three-pointers this year (8.9 per game) versus last (4.7). This has Pritchard tied for second in the entire NBA in three-pointers made so far this season with 96, only seven behind the league-leader Anthony Edwards who has played over 120 more minutes than him.

With starting point guard Jrue Holiday already 34 years old, Pritchard’s leap could not have come at a better time. His emergence as a consistent scoring option has allowed head coach Joe Mazzulla to reduce Holiday’s minutes. The two-time NBA All-Star is averaging only 31 minutes per game this season which is on pace to be the third-lowest mark of his 16-year NBA career.

As the regular season goes on, Pritchard should have even more opportunities to showcase his wares for the Celtics as Mazulla manages Holiday’s load. Pritchard already has 10 games with at least 20 points this season, including his first double double of the campaign in their most recent win versus the Detroit Pistons, and this number should only grow over these next few months. 

In this win against the Pistons, Pritchard was spectacular from the get-go and put up a team-high 27 points, seven three-pointers, four rebounds, and 10 assists in 31 minutes. His four first half three-pointers helped Boston blow the game wide open which has become a recurring theme for the defending champions. 

The Celtics are currently in second place in the East with a 20-5 win-loss record and if they can continue to maintain a spot in the top tier of the standings, Pritchard should easily run away with this season’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year trophy. Compared with one of his competitors in this race, Ty Jerome of the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers, Pritchard has put up better numbers on a more consistent basis. Meanwhile, Buddy Hield and Bennedict Mathurin have played well off the bench this season too, but the middling records of their respective teams, the Golden State Warriors and Indiana Pacers, will hurt their case in this race. 

Pritchard’s rise may seem like it came out of nowhere, but it is the result of the steady progress that he and the team have made over the past few seasons. Boston’s championship run appears to have lit an even brighter fire under him, setting the stage for this breakout campaign. With two years remaining on his current contract, this flourishing partnership should only continue to grow.