Celtics Reveal Historic News on Sunday Game

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Robert Marvi | Last updated Apr 13, 2025 4:40 PM ET

The Boston Celtics are about to begin their quest for back-to-back NBA championships when the playoffs start about a week from now.

On Sunday, they closed out their regular season with a 93-86 win over the Charlotte Hornets. It was an ugly game, especially since most of their rotational players didn't play, but Payton Pritchard, their excellent sixth man, did appear in the contest.

He led everyone with 34 points on 14-of-25 shooting from the field while also pitching in seven rebounds and seven assists. In doing so, he became only the second Celtics player after former forward Antoine Walker to record at least 200 made 3-pointers and 100 offensive rebounds in a single season.

Payton Pritchard and Antoine Walker are the only Celtics to record 200+ 3PM and 100+ OREB in a season pic.twitter.com/3fWBwPjf04
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 13, 2025

Last season, the Celtics didn't exactly have a deep bench. But this season, Pritchard has emerged as someone who opponents need to be concerned about off the bench.

He ended the regular season with averages of 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists a game while shooting 47.2% overall and 40.7% from 3-point range. He is a significant reason the Celtics got hot after the All-Star break and ended the regular season with a 61-21 record.

They ended their schedule by winning 19 of their last 22 games, and thus, their slump in January is now a distant memory. While there is plenty of parity across the NBA and at least five teams that have a real shot at winning the world championship this season, some still consider them the favorites to win it all.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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