The Celtics’ longest active streak of consecutive games played came to an end Sunday.
Backup guard Payton Pritchard was ruled out for Boston’s road matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers because of an illness, according to the team. The Celtics added Pritchard to their injury report Sunday morning, initially listing him as questionable.
The DNP was the first for Pritchard in the regular season since April 2023. He appeared in every game for the Celtics last season and their first 49 games of the current campaign — a run of 132 straight regular-season appearances.
The 27-year-old is averaging career highs in minutes, points, rebounds and steals per game and is the midseason favorite for NBA Sixth Man of the Year, ranking first among all bench players in points and plus/minus and second in assists. His 155 made 3-pointers as of Sunday ranked seventh league-wide, trailing only Anthony Edwards, Malik Beasley, Tyler Herro, Donovan Mitchell, Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum.
Pritchard entered Sunday as the only Celtics player who had appeared in every game this season. All others had missed at least three games, including healthy scratches. The rest of Boston’s roster was available against Philadelphia.
The 76ers, who’ve been bludgeoned by injuries throughout the season, were missing multiple starters for the Atlantic Division clash. Joel Embiid, Paul George and Caleb Martin all sat out with injuries, as did reserves Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon.
Emiid and Martin combined for 50 points and 11 made threes in Philly’s 118-114 win in Boston on Christmas Day.
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