Jrue Holiday makes strong case for Payton Pritchard to win Sixth Man award – NBC Sports Boston

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Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday is so convinced that Payton Pritchard is the Sixth Man of the Year that, if the John Havlicek trophy isn’t sitting inside the Auerbach Center by early May, then Holiday is calling shenanigans.

“If he’s not Sixth Man of the year, then this is rigged,” said Holiday.

“My man, he’s breaking records … We really need him and I think he’s realized that we really need what he brings to our team, in terms of scoring and playmaking and big-shot making. So it’s really cool to see, just even the elevation from last year to this year, to be able to take that big of a leap is pretty cool.”

Earlier this month, Pritchard broke the NBA record for most 3-pointers off the bench in a single season. Even after a spot start in his native Portland on Sunday night, 232 of Pritchard’s 236 3-pointers this season have come off the bench as he leaves Wayne Ellington’s previous record mark of 218 bench 3s in the rearview mirror.

The next record in Pritchard’s sight could be besting the Celtics’ single-season record for 3-pointers made. He’s jockeying with teammates Jayson Tatum and Derrick White for a new franchise record, and might have the edge if those two veterans get rest to the finish line of the season. Tatum sprained his left ankle in Monday night’s win in Sacramento.

Pritchard leads the NBA in bench points at 997. He will soon become only the fourth Celtics player in team history to score 1,000 points off the bench in a season (Kevin McHale did it 3 times; Ricky Davis and Malcolm Brogdon each did it once).

Pritchard’s 22 games with 5-plus 3-pointers this season is a franchise record. His 20 games with 20+ points off the bench leads the NBA this season. Earlier this month, Pritchard and White became the first Celtics duo in team history to score 40 points apiece in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

After early foul trouble limited his output in Portland on Sunday during his lone start of the year, Pritchard joked that maybe he needs to stick to coming off the bench.

Holiday has loved watching Pritchard’s progress.

“We talked…

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Publish date : 2025-03-25 12:25:00

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