Payton Pritchard has struck again! The 26-year-old set the TD Garden ablaze with a shocking buzzer-beater in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The crowd burst into a roar to celebrate the thrilling moment as the Boston Celtics went up 67-46 at halftime. However, he didn’t just catch the attention of the Garden but of millions of NBA fans online. One such was Patrick Mahomes. And for those who didn’t know, he’s been a die-hard Mavs fan his whole life and to no surprise, was rooting for Doncic & Co. despite the struggles.

Much to his disappointment, the Celtics dominated the series, taking a comfortable 3-1 lead. Pritchard’s second buzzer-beater in the series may have been a catalyst to put the final nail in the coffin. The Kansas City Chiefs star was clearly not too happy with this. He joined Ja Morant, Paige Bueckers, Paul Pierce, Paolo Banchero, and several other basketball stars to express their opinions on the insane moment. “Bro i hate this dude,” Mahomes wrote on X while Celtics legend Paul Pierce, Paige Bueckers, and others sang praises.

Ja Morant also joined the bandwagon. He wrote, “he really don’t be missing these 😂🔥”.

UConn star, Paige Bueckers reacted to Pritchard’s heroics, saying “Buzzer beating shots are really Pritchard’s specialty that’s crazy”.

Paolo Banchero and Paul Pierce joined in, with the Orlando Magic star saying “pritchard legendary it’s stamped”. Pierce, on the other hand, just posted an “eyeball” emoji. Jayson Tatum & Co. led throughout the second half on their way to their 18th banner. Pritchard played a significant role too, delivering an impressive playoff performance.

Payton Pritchard’s jaw-dropping numbers in the playoffs

Although widely popular for his buzzer beaters, Payton Pritchard did not just limit his game to these thrilling moments. The Celtics star contributed significantly and was a spark off the bench. The 26-year-old averaged a healthy 6.6 points. Along with that, he contributed with 2.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists in this 18-game stretch. Interestingly, he has an NBA playoff record for buzzer-beaters!

Pritchard made 13-36 (36.1%) of his late-clock shots. The bracket for measuring was when the clock had 3 seconds or fewer remaining in the quarter, as per PBP stats, in the regular season. During the postseason, he went 2-6 (33.3%). He averaged a distance of 38.3 feet in his postseason attempts. He also became the only NBA player ever to hit 2 buzzer-beaters in the NBA Finals!

Pritchard toppled Jordan Poole and Mario Chalmers’ unique accolades. Now that the Cs were successful in winning their 18th title, one more than the Lakers, his enthralling shot is being looked at even more! That brings us to the question- Can he become one of the Celtics’ key role players in the coming years? Only time can tell us.

But for now, check out what Leonardo Armato had to say about the Caitlin Clark vs Angel Reese debate.