That is what occurred throughout one in every of the most important possessions of Boston’s 108-100 win over the 76ers in Game 3 of this first-round playoff sequence Friday.
The Celtics led, 100-98, when Jayson Tatum was hounded by VJ Edgecombe as he dribbled close to the proper arc with 5 seconds left on the shot clock and about 1:25 left in the recreation.
Edgecombe poked the ball away from Tatum, forcing him to take an additional step to retrieve it earlier than making an attempt to reset. Now, simply 3.5 seconds remained, and the Celtics seemed to be in hassle.
Pritchard was lurking as a security valve in the proper nook, and Tatum fired him the ball. Just 2.3 seconds remained on the shot clock when he caught it.
“I was aware [of the clock],” Pritchard mentioned Saturday. “I looked around, I said, ‘Dang, JT, you threw me a grenade.’ I like grenades though. So, I live for those moments.”
The lack of time restricted Pritchard’s choices, however he was unbothered. The second he caught the ball he stole a fast have a look at the shot clock. Then he relied on his inside timer to deal with the relaxation.
As the 6-foot-8-inch Kelly Oubre Jr. closed out on him, 6-1 Pritchard juked barely to his proper, simply sufficient to disrupt Oubre’s stability and create the small opening required. Pritchard took one arduous dribble to his left, stepped again and poured in the recreation’s greatest shot.
“I think it’s an ability to almost check the clock within a small window of right when I get the ball,” Pritchard mentioned. “Or analyzing, knowing, like, when JT was dribbling, I could tell that there was three seconds left, so when he swung it, I knew it’s almost like a clock in my mind of like how much time, if I had one to two dribbles, or something like that.
“So, in that instance, I knew I only had about one dribble, pump fake, side-step. So it’s the ability to see the clock, and then just have a clock in your mind.”
When the ball slid by means of the internet, the raucous crowd was immediately deflated. Pritchard crammed their silence by barking his personal expletive-filled celebration to nobody particularly.
“I knew it was a big shot,” Pritchard mentioned. “It was needed in the moment, but hopefully I can hit more like that.”
Battling time is nothing new for Pritchard, who has grow to be recognized for his late-quarter long-range heaves, none greater than the halfcourt shot he drilled in the 2024 NBA Finals in opposition to the Mavericks.
His makes an attempt late in the shot clock are usually much less dramatic, however they arrive extra ceaselessly. During the common season, Pritchard made 23 above-the-break 3-pointers with 4 seconds or much less remaining on the shot clock, second solely to Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray.
“I’ve been playing this game for so long,” Pritchard mentioned. “I know how quick my moves are.”
Adam Himmelsbach could be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.
