Payton Pritchard: Celtics will continue to shoot threes because they’re ‘the best’ at it

“Too many damn threes are being launched. So it’s a broader conversation than just about the All-Star Game,” LeBron James told the press recently, when asked about the current state of the NBA. Days before, NBA Commissioner had said that the league was looking into the saturated volume of shots taken from beyond the arc. 

It seems like most of the league is agreeing on the fact that the basketball sport is changing before our eyes and shooting from afar has turned into the best strategy to win a game. If you don’t believe me, you can just take a look at the Celtics, as the reigning champions are currently leading the season with most shots from range.

Boston’s own Payton Pritchard doesn’t see a problem with it, despite criticism from pundits and fans. The team’s sixth-man star was asked this weekend about his feelings towards all the talk surrounding this situation, and he only conceded to the fact that some teams shouldn’t take so many shots from range, except his own team, of course.

Here are the stats on Payton Pritchard's incredible start to the season pic.twitter.com/4ZRjS47vBm

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“I feel like some teams should maybe not take as many threes but those teams should not be us,” Pritchard told the Boston media. “We’re the best at doing it. Why would we change?”

The Massachusetts club is the most frequent at these attempts, leading the NBA with a historically prolific 51.3 attempts per contest. However, it’s not only about shooting, it is also about precision, as the Celtics 18.8 made threes per game are the most converted this year, at 36.7%.

Pritchard has certainly been contributing to this fact, as the guard himself has been 9 of his 11.5 field goal shots per game, of which are coming from beyond the arc. Out of those attempts, Payton has sunk 3.9, which more than doubles his 2023-24 career high of 1.8 made three-pointers a match.

So far this campaign, the 26-year-old is averaging 16.4 points on .482/.434/.841 shooting splits, 3.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.0 steals a night off the bench. Considered a top contender for the Sixth Man of the Year award, the reserve has just been averaging 28.7 minutes per night.

Heading into this Saturday’s game against the Bulls, Pritchard’s 105 made triples ranked third across the entire NBA, behind only Minnesota superstar guard Anthony Edwards’ 111 made threes and Detroit shooter Malik Beasley’s 106.