Boston Celtics fans will remember their team winning the 2024 NBA Finals for the rest of their lives. And if you're looking for individual moments from the Celtics' five-game rout of the Dallas Mavericks that stick out above the rest, Payton Pritchard's buzzer-beater in Game 5 is probably near the top of the list.
Pritchard had a rough series overall, shooting just 25 percent from the field through five games. But two of his made baskets were pretty important. The first came at the end of the third quarter in Game 2 when the Mavericks had trimmed the Celtics' lead to six with the final seconds winding down. Pritchard fired a shot from near the logo and drained it, pushing Boston's advantage back up to nine. The C's ended up winning 105-98.
He did almost the exact same thing Monday night in Game 5. After a Luka Doncic missed free throw, Pritchard got the ball, raced to halfcourt and launched a deep 3-pointer that went straight through the basket, pushing the Celtics' lead to 21 at halftime.
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The Garden erupted, and so did the Celtics players, including Jayson Tatum, who ran over to give Pritchard a chest bump.
After the Celtics secured a 106-88 win and the franchise's 18th championship, series MVP Jaylen Brown had plenty of praise for Pritchard in his postgame press conference.
"We had an excellent game plan in the Finals, and then all of the guys contributed," Brown told reporters. "Like, for example, like Payton Pritchard, like unreal, right. Unreal. Like just comes in the game and drains one from halfcourt. That dude, he's a f---ing legend, man. Shout-out to Payton Pritchard."
Celtics center Al Horford also gave Pritchard a shoutout.
"Man, that was beautiful. That was beautiful," Horford told reporters in his postgame press conference. "He did that, and you take a glance at the other team, and it's one of those that breaks your spirit, and then it just kind of fueled us. But Payton, man, that just sums it up. It was ups and downs for him, not knowing what to expect, when to play, when not to play. He's the kind of guy -- he is a big-time player, and it's hard because we have a lot of guys."
"But man, him stepping up, cold, ready, not afraid of the moment, taking the shot; and man, as soon as he shot it, like I don't know how you guys saw it, but I was like, man, he's about to knock it down. Like this is crazy. So, man, the fact that he knocked it down, like that was huge. That was special."
