Payton Pritchard hits ridiculous half-court buzzer beater during NBA Finals Game 5

Payton Pritchard hit a memorable shot for the Boston Celtics as they try to win their 18th NBA championship. With no time remaining in the first half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Pritchard hit a half-court shot against the Dallas Mavericks to give the Celtics the 67-46 lead.

PAYTON PRITCHARD 🤯

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— Fanatics Sportsbook (@FanaticsBook) June 18, 2024

The three-pointer was Pritchard’s first set of points for the game. It comes after the 26-year-old had a strong regular season, averaging 9.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game off the bench. Pritchard was selected No. 26 overall by the Celtics in the 2020 NBA Draft after having a standout career with the Oregon Ducks.

This is not the first time Pritchard has hit a buzzer-beater in the series. At the end of the third quarter in Game 2 of the Finals, Pritchard hit a 34-foot three-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining.

“I think the play of the game can’t go unnoticed — the humility of our team — is Payton’s shot at the end of the quarter,” Mazzulla told the media, per NBC Sports Boston. “You see guys around the league pass up on that shot, or fake like they want to take it so that their numbers don’t get messed up — he takes pride in taking that, and that’s winning basketball.”

“That’s just what Payton Pritchard does,” teammate Derrick White said. “Late clock, he doesn’t shy away from that moment. That was a big-time shot, it kind of got us the momentum. You just love Payton, love competing with him — it was just a big-time shot.”

Payton Pritchard really wants to win Game 5

Before Game 5, Pritchard talked about how big it would be to win and give Celtics fans another title. “It would be huge to win this next game,” he said. “We really want to win the next game. But if we don’t, it’s not the end of the world. We have three more rounds to go, at (most). But the most important game is the next one, and to do it in front of the home crowd would be special.”

During his time at Oregon, Pritchard was a consensus first-team All-American in 2020 and was named Pac-12 Player of the Year after tallying 20.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game. He also won the Bob Cousy Award which is given to the nation’s top point guard.