Payton Pritchard’s ability to pile up points off the bench has turned him into the early favorite for NBA Sixth Man of the Year. But the Celtics’ backup guard wants more credit for his work at the other end of the court.
Speaking after Sunday night’s 112-98 win over the Washington Wizards, Pritchard said he’s bothered by the narrative that he’s a weak defender.
“I really want to be known as a two-way player,” Pritchard told reporters. “People like to — sometimes I see things that say I’m a defensive liability, and it irks me. Every game, I go out and I try to prove that narrative wrong. Me trying to be a complete two-way player is something I always want to try to strive to be. If I can be known as an elite on-ball player and an elite offensive player, that’s a big goal of mine.”
Pritchard isn’t a defensive maven like fellow Boston guards Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, and he might never be. At 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, he’s often the smallest player on the court, making some matchup problems unsolvable.
But head coach Joe Mazzulla has repeatedly praised Pritchard for how much he’s improved as an on-ball defender. The 26-year-old is on pace to record nearly 80 steals this season, which would double his current career high of 39.
“It’s just making things tough,” Pritchard said. “People in the league, they’re going to hit tough shots. I could play great defense, and they could still hit it, just like they could do on me. I could hit a tough shot and a person be right in my grill. But it’s just coming back and doing it play after play after play, and then by the end of the game, their legs are a little bit tired, so it causes them to miss.
“That’s doing your job. Causing deflections, getting steals. Hopefully, eventually I’ll get better at taking charges. I’m not the best at that. It’s something I’ve got to keep working on. But I’ve gotten a lot better at using my hands and just creating havoc. So obviously, there’s a lot of growth there still, and I have a lot of growth to become a better player.”
Pritchard played a team-high 37 minutes Sunday night, and the Celtics allowed just 98 points, albeit against the last-place Wizards. He spent much of the game hounding Jordan Poole, one of the few established veterans on Washington’s roster.
Pritchard forced Poole into a turnover on one second-quarter possession. Later, after Pritchard stumbled while guarding Poole near the 3-point line, Poole taunted him and missed his window for an open shot, which Pritchard viewed as a sign that he’d gotten into his opponent’s head.
“I know he pointed at me when he tripped me, stepped on my foot – good move,” Pritchard told reporters. “But obviously, if you’re going to do something like that, maybe you’re getting under somebody’s skin a little bit.
“I just try to make things tough. He’s a tough shotmaker, he’ll take a lot of them and he hits tough ones. I just try to make it as hard as possible.”
Poole scored a team-high 21 points for Washington but went just 3-for-11 from 3-point range. Pritchard recorded his second straight double-double off the bench, finishing with 15 points (5-for-10 from three), 11 rebounds and four assists.
The 11 boards were Pritchard’s most in a game since April 2023. One game earlier, he set a season high in assists with 10 in a 123-99 win over Detroit. Pritchard also became just the second NBA player, behind Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, to make 100 threes this season. His 13 games with at least five made threes leads the league.
“(It’s) just him becoming a complete player,” Mazzulla told reporters Sunday night. “It’s not just the offense. It’s his rebounding, and he takes the pressure off Jrue and Jaylen (Brown), who are the primary guys that are matched up with some of the best players night in and night out. When we can do that and have another guy that can just take (an opponent) out of his rhythm, he’s just becoming a complete player.”