With superstar Jayson Tatum out with a shoulder injury, someone else had to carry the scoring load for the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Center Kristaps Porzingis (illness) and guard Jrue Holiday (finger) joined Tatum on the bench vs. the visiting Trail Blazers, so all signs pointed to All-Star Jaylen Brown going off. Instead, it was a pair of unsuspecting heroes who led Boston to a 128-118 home win.
Guards Derrick White (41 points, 14-for-26 FG, 9-for-17 3PT) and Payton Pritchard (43 points, 14-for-20 FG, 10-for-16 3PT) both erupted in career-high scoring efforts, combining for 84 points. Pritchard added 10 rebounds for a double-double and pitched in five assists, while White contributed three steals, two assists and one block.
While both players have proven to be huge pieces to the defending champions’ roster, neither of them have ever been All-Stars, making their performances that much more shocking. Both Pritchard and White made all kinds of franchise and NBA history as well.
Their combined 19 three-pointers is a new NBA record and it’s the first time in league history that two teammates have drilled at least nine shots from downtown in the same contest.
Somehow, they became the first players in the storied history of the Celtics to score at least 40 points in the same game as well.
With a record 18 NBA titles, Boston has produced arguably the most iconic list of Hall of Famers, yet no pair were as explosive scorers as Pritchard and White were on Wednesday.
Perhaps more amazingly, the historic night came just five days after Tatum and Brown had set the single-game record for most combined points in Celtics history at 83, when the team lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers 123-116 on Friday. Tatum finished the contest with 46 points while JB scored 37.
White Credits Brown, Al Horford For Big Night
Now in his third full season in Beantown, White is posting career-best numbers through the first four-plus months of the 2024-25 campaign.
The former 29th overall pick is averaging career highs in points (16.7), rebounds (4.3) and minutes per game (33.8) across 59 contests and has tied his high mark of 39.6% on three-point attempts from last season.
White credited his teammates for his historic night, specifically naming Brown and big man Al Horford as key parts of his success. While Brown struggled to the tune of 18 points on 7-for-23 from the field (0-for-4 3PT), he recorded eight assists for the second straight game.
“Everybody was just doing a great job finding us and creating for us,” White said, per celticsblog.com. “I felt like JB found me so many times to give me good open looks and make the right play. Him and Al setting great screens, it was a whole team effort.”
Did Pritchard Just Lock up Sixth Man of the Year Award?
Pritchard’s effort was particularly stunning given that he was averaging just 13.4 minutes per tilt two years ago in his third season.
He also entered both the franchise and NBA record books with his individual output, registering the second-most points for a Celtics player off the bench and becoming just the fifth player in league history with 10 threes and 10 rebounds in a game (third to do it in regulation).
With 20 games remaining in the regular season, Pritchard now seemingly has an excellent shot at breaking Wayne Ellington’s mark of 218 three-pointers off the bench in a campaign, as the Oregon product sits at 203.
The Sixth Man of the Year Award favorite continues to be one of the more unheralded, valuable members of the Celtics, leading the team in games played with 61 (no starts), only missing one contest, and pacing the group in three-point field goal percentage (.423) among players who’ve appeared in at least 17 tilts.
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