The Celtics’ Payton Pritchard doesn’t feel the need to lobby for votes in his quest to be named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year.
His game-high 34 points in Boston’s regular-season finale against the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, however, may speak for itself.
“There’s no need for that,” Pritchard told reports when asked if he felt he needed to make his case to voters. “If I get it, it’s not going to stop my journey. It’s not going to stop the work I’m going to put in. This would just be another steppingstone. People could write about it if I get it, saying I have an award. But at the end of the day, I feel like I’m just looking to keep growing and growing.”
Pritchard, who also finished with seven assists and seven rebounds in 39 minutes of action, helped lead the Celtics to a narrow 93-86 victory despite the home team having held a 21-point first-half lead. The win was Boston’s second straight against the Hornets, and fifth in its final six games.
With the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference already clinched, the Celtics rested their top six players for the second time in three games, giving the team’s bench above-average playing time. Pritchard was the biggest beneficiary of the additional minutes, becoming the only player in the NBA this season to amass both 200 three-pointers and 100 offensive rebounds — he’s the second Celtics player to accomplish the feat, with Antoine Walker being the first.
Sam Hauser added 15 points for Boston in its season-finale victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.
Boston’s 61-21 regular-season record was three games shy of the first-place Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as the Celtics’ record last season when they captured their NBA-record 18th championship.
“It’s a testament to the guys, really, in the locker room,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said of his team’s regular season. “Just their competitive nature, their mentality, the ability to handle good times and not-so-good times, and the standard that they hold themselves to. So it goes back to the duality, right? It’s what we did is great, and now it doesn’t matter, because we have to continue the journey, but it starts with those guys in the locker room.”
Sam Hauser also had a big game for Boston, finishing 4-of-7 from beyond the arc on his way to a 15-point performance. Bigman Luke Kornet added 11 points and eight rebounds, while Jordan Walsh (10 points, eight rebounds) also finished in double figures in the scoring column.
Josh Okogie and Jusuf Nurkic led Charlotte with 14 points apiece.
The Celtics will keep a close eye on Tuesday night’s play-in game between the No. 7 Orlando Magic (41-41) and No. 8 Atlanta Hawks (40-42), as Boston is slated to host the winner of that contest Sunday in Game 1 of its first-round matchup. Tipoff for Tuesday’s game is slated for 7:30 p.m., while a time for Sunday’s first-round contest is yet to be released.
The Celtics went 1-2 against both teams during the regular season.
