Payton Pritchard has emerged as the NBA’s leading scorer in late shot clock situations. Since the Celtics’ 2024 NBA Finals win, Pritchard has tallied a significant number of points when the clock is winding down.
Pritchard’s Late-Clock Dominance
Over the past two regular seasons, Pritchard has scored 307 points from 132 made field goals during the last four seconds of the shot clock. In the 2025-26 season alone, he poured in 203 points, making 89 of his 204 shots (43.6 percent) in these critical moments, leading the entire NBA.
Pritchard didn’t just edge out his competitors; he surpassed them. His 89 late shot clock field goals were 11 more than the next-closest player.
Leading the League in Clutch Shots
Here’s a look at the top five total point scorers in late shot clock situations this season:
- Payton Pritchard
- Brunson
- [Other players not specified in source]
Despite the high volume of shots, Pritchard maintained an impressive 43.6 percent field goal percentage and 35.7 percent from 3-point range on buzzer-beaters. By comparison, another player shot 24 percent on buzzer-beater 3s, making 24 of his league-leading 100 attempts.
Momentum and Energy
Pritchard believes these late shots are crucial for momentum. He told reporters after a win over the Atlanta Hawks that it is a momentum play, which the crowd and team feel. He feels it’s crucial, ending a quarter or half, to get that energy and momentum swing.
Growth in Buzzer-Beating Performance
Pritchard has significantly increased his output in recent seasons. After scoring fewer than 40 late shot clock points in each of his first three NBA seasons, Pritchard nearly doubled his buzzer-beater output during Boston’s title campaign in 2023-24 with 63 points on 27 buckets.
He then took another massive leap in 2024-25 with 104 points on 43 buzzer-beating shots, then doubled that total again in 2025-26 with 89 made field goals producing 203 points.
This growth is partly due to increased volume, with Pritchard setting career highs in overall field goal attempts and points per game over the last three seasons. This season, he is averaging 17.0 points on 13.8 shots per game, taking on a larger role with one player sidelined.