Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard (11) drives to the basket in front of Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija (8) in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 14, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
BOSTON — Payton Pritchard scored a career-high 38 points and NBAThe top-ranked Boston Celtics rested their entire starting lineup in a 132-122 victory over the Washington Wizards on Sunday in the teams’ regular-season finale.
Svi Mykhailiuk added 26 points and Sam Hauser 16 for Boston, which had Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday as well as first reserve Al Horford.
Pritchard added 12 assists with nine rebounds. In last year’s final regular season game, the 6-foot-1 Pritchard had a triple-double with 30 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, joining Larry Bird and John Havlicek as the only Celtics with at least 30 points , 13 rebounds and 11 assists in a game.
#CelticsWin pic.twitter.com/dx6oHl0K2B
– Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 14, 2024
READ: NBA: Celtics rest starters and overtake Hornets
He grabbed his ninth rebound with 5:22 left and played the rest of the game.
“If he comes, I’ll take him.” But I got one last year,” he says, smiling. “It wasn’t like I had pressure to get my first triple-double. I’m a pretty good rebounder. So if I get the minutes, I think I can get another triple-double.
The Celtics (64-18) finished their 15th season in club history with 60 or more wins, the most recent coming in 2008 when they won the NBA title.
After losing Game 7 at home to Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals last spring, anything less than a trip to the NBA Finals this year would most likely be considered a disappointment.
“The most important thing in any situation is to have no expectations,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said of the upcoming playoffs. “If you look at teams that were even lucky, and if we are lucky enough to get to a final, or even win it, the path to that is always forgotten by the outcome of winning.”
The Wizards (15-67) finished their third straight season and fifth in the last six without qualifying for the playoffs. Eugene Omoruyi led them with a career-high 26 points and Jared Butler had 22 in their sixth straight loss.
“I think we developed a lot of resilience and we developed a competitive atmosphere, and we learned the process; what it takes to be a really good team,” Wizards interim coach Brian Keefe said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but I think we’ve started to lay the foundation for that.”
Pritchard played in all 82 games this season. He scored 14 points in the final 2:19 of the first half, connecting on all four of his 3-point attempts to give Boston a 69-59 halftime advantage.
At halftime, the Celtics honored television play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman, who is retiring after his 43rd season, calling their games. There were many tributes on the Jumbotron from former Boston players and NBA people during downtime.
FOLLOWING
Wizards: season over.
Celtics: Expect their first-round playoff opponent for next Sunday.
