Before Monday night’s Celtics game, Jaylen Brown threw his support behind Payton Pritchard in the early NBA awards conversation.

Responding to an X post asking whether Pritchard should be the front-runner for Sixth Man of the Year, Brown wrote: “Easily.”

Pritchard proceeded to bolster his case with another strong performance, going 6-for-10 from 3-point range as part of a 20-point performance as Boston blew out the Los Angeles Clippers 126-94 at TD Garden. He added four assists, two rebounds and two steals and was a team-best plus-30 in 26 minutes off the bench.

“I mean, it’s early in the season, but Payton’s been balling,” Brown said postgame. “He’s been a superstar in his role all season long. He’s always been a hard-working guy that shows up early, puts his work in, but now it’s like, you’re really starting to see the growth.

“I think Payton could be significant on any other team. He accepts his role and he has been fantastic for it. So anytime I’m in a game, I’m looking to get him going. Anytime he’s on the court, he’s a threat. Payton has been balling. It’s been pretty obvious.”

(Brown also shouted out Pritchard for being the only other Celtics player to wear Brown’s self-designed 741 signature shoes in games.)

Pritchard’s 267 points off the bench this season leads the NBA, and his 63 made threes rank sixth among all players, starters included (two of the players above him are teammates Jayson Tatum and Derrick White). Of the 36 NBA players who have attempted at least 110 3-pointers this season, Pritchard is one of just eight who have made at least 42% of them, joining Anthony Edwards, Stephen Curry, Darius Garland, Tyler Herro, Buddy Hield, Norman Powell and Cameron Johnson.

He’s also on pace to shatter his career high in steals (39; he already has 20), with head coach Joe Mazzulla frequently praising his “ball pressure.”

The latest odds from DraftKings Sportsbook had Pritchard as a +140 favorite to win Sixth Man of the Year, with Hield a distant second at +650.

“It’s really out of my control,” Pritchard said when asked about the award. “If I get voted for that and I get that honor, that would be incredible, but I’m not going to chase it and go try to get stats. It’s more about playing winning basketball. And if I’m fortunate enough to win it through that, then that would be an honor.”