Celtics' Payton Pritchard wins the NBA sixth man of the year award

TIM REYNOLDS

Payton Pritchard came off the bench and changed games for the Boston Celtics this season.

He was the only player in the NBA with more than 1,000 points in games that he didn’t start. He set the league record for 3-pointers made by a backup. And the voters took notice of all that and more, picking the Celtics guard as the league’s sixth man of the year this season.

Pritchard edged out Detroit’s Malik Beasley and Cleveland’s Ty Jerome for the award. It’s the fifth time that a Celtics player won the award: Kevin McHale claimed it in 1984 and 1985, Bill Walton in 1986 and Malcolm Brogdon won it in 2023.

And maybe fittingly, the award is named for another Celtics legend — John Havlicek.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba