Doc Rivers raves about Celtics reserve guard after epic performance

BOSTON – Bucks coach Doc Rivers began to lean forward in disbelief even before Payton Pritchard hit his 3-point shot to end the third quarter. The reserve guard has become famous for his buzzer-beating skills over the last two seasons and made Milwaukee its latest victim by hitting a three-pointer in the third quarter of the Celtics' 119-108 win.

Pritchard finished the win with a season-high 30 points, which left Rivers wondering afterward why exactly his team wasn't prepared for his shot.

“It’s so funny, it’s not. But this morning I literally circled his name and felt like this guy is coming in and changing the game,” Rivers said. “I don't know if you remember, last year we had a six-point lead and he came in and changed the whole game. He did it again tonight. He got their 3-ball going because we kept him away from the three-point line most of the time.

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“We liked the way we defended and channeled it inside. We just didn't think they could do enough groups of two. But if you do that and give up some layups, you can't give up threes. And I thought he started, and then in the third, early fourth period they played loose with three-point shots and that hurt us. I thought that changed the game.”

Pritchard's 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter helped spark an 18-2 run by the Celtics that gave Boston the lead for good in the fourth quarter. Rivers explained his painful reaction to that shot at the end of the third period as he watched his Bucks defense put him in his place.

“We had to move him to the middle and we talked about it this morning,” Rivers said. “At the end of the quarter you always try to break away properly. We went through that. So it wasn't that Pritchard reaction. It was more my reaction that we had that covered and we were there and let him go right. When it really started, I didn't know it was going to go in. I just didn’t think good things would happen, and they didn’t.”

The loss dropped Rivers and the Bucks to 1-3 on the season, while the Celtics improved to 4-0. Pritchard has now scored in double figures in three straight games since Monday night and leads the NBA in 3-pointers made with 19.