Must C’s: Payton Pritchard continues hot summer by dropping 92 at Portland Pro-Am

Payton Pritchard is riding the crest of a giant wave at the moment. The second-year guard was easily the Celtics' most impactful player throughout the team’s first three Summer League games. That’s why when the Celtics announced Pritchard wouldn't take part in any further Summer League games, eyebrows failed to get raised. It was clear that the Oregon native was toying with opposition at that level.

The only thing that really stuck out was that Pritchard had informed the team of a prior arrangement before the tournament began, and that’s why he wouldn’t be suiting up for the Celtics in Vegas anymore.

But did any of us expect that “prior engagement” to be another basketball game? In a different summer league? Because that’s exactly what it was.

Suiting up in the Portland Pro-Am, Pritchard proceeded to drop a whopping 92 points, as his team won a tightly contested game 165-163.

Pritchard wasn’t the only NBA player at the tournament, with Mike James (who recently played for the Brooklyn Nets) also present. And what’s even more interesting is that Pritchard isn’t the only guard with Celtics links who have dropped huge numbers at a Pro-Am game this summer.

Former Celtics Isaiah Thomas recently had his own scoring outburst, dropping 81 points at The Crawsover.

Maybe this tournament was just a pit stop on his way to an actual “engagement” elsewhere in the country, or perhaps Pritchard really enjoys dropping ridiculous numbers on people. Either way, 92 points in a game is ridiculous, and it continues a run of good form for the sophomore, whose confidence is undoubtedly running high right now.

Earlier this summer, PP threw out the first pitch at a Red Sox game. Boston got Chris Sale back over the weekend, but Pritchard proved that if the Sox need arms for a postseason push, he’s been on fire all summer:

Pritchard finished Summer League averaging 20.3 points and 8.7 assists per game, and found consistency from deep, hitting on 57.7% of his long-range attempts. Hopefully, the workaholic takes a break now, and this is the last we hear of him until training camp starts in mid-October.