It’s not easy to fill Jayson Tatum’s shoes, especially when you consider that he wears a size 14. With Wednesday’s matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers serving as a rest day for the Boston Celtics star, someone was going to have to be up for the task.
Payton Pritchard and Derrick White took the added opportunity and ran with it. Both players scored new career highs (43 for Pritchard and 41 for White) and carried the load for the shorthanded Cs.
This was an opportunity that each of them earned with their consistent play and willingness to do whatever it takes to win on a nightly basis, according to head coach Joe Mazzulla.
“Yeah, they were tremendous,” Mazzulla told reporters postgame. “I mean, I think with guys out and playing against a really good Portland team, we knew we were going to need to have guys step up. And the way those two play just shows a lot about who they are... They do a lot of the things, you know, for the team, and to have a night like this where those two can show what they’re capable of was big for us.”
Pritchard and White poured in 84 of Boston’s 128 points in the win over the Trail Blazers.
It was a three-point onslaught right from the beginning. In the first quarter alone, White and Pritchard sank six shots from beyond the arc, including this one from Pritchard.
The duo carried their momentum over to the second quarter, where White really found his groove with three straight makes.
“That second quarter when I hit like three in a row, I knew had it going,” he explained. “And credit to my teammates, they kept finding me and in good positions, and I was able to stay hot.”
The second half was no different than the first; the two Celtics continued to punish Portland from long range.
By the time the final buzzer went off, the pair of Celtics guards had sunk 19 triples, outshooting the entire Trail Blazers team, who made just 16. It was unlike anything that Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups had seen before.
I asked Chauncey Billups if he’s ever seen something like what Derrick White and Payton Pritchard did tonight:
“I haven’t seen that, man. I haven’t been a part of a game like that. I’ve seen guys catch fire, but two guys like that, I haven’t seen it.” pic.twitter.com/EgN3YZDNhi
— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) March 6, 2025
Well, it was actually unlike anything that anyone had seen before. No pair of teammates in the NBA have ever combined for as many threes as White and Pritchard did on Wednesday.
What’s really remarkable is that they set that record efficiently. They shot a combined 58% from long-range against the Blazers and never strayed away from trying to make the right play, which Pritchard explained postgame.
“When I’m processing the game, it’s just about taking the right shots and making the right read,” he detailed. “So, I feel like, if I do that, and if I get enough attempts, it should be a good night regardless.”
This really was the most Joe-Mazzulla-Celtics scoring outburst ever. The team didn’t veer away from their standard process and continued to read the game properly. This time, it just resulted in a legendary heater.
“Like we weren’t even hitting the rim,” White added. “Like, just swishes, and I don’t know, you get hot. I was getting a lot of really good looks, and so the credit to offense and the guys finding me.”
Those good looks led to a piece of Celtic history. White and Pritchard are the only two teammates who have each scored 40 in the same game for Boston. That’s right; Tatum and Jaylen Brown haven’t even met that mark.
So, along with the win, The Buffalo and FastPP will have some bragging rights over the Jays.