The Portland Trail Blazers' 128-118 loss Wednesday at the Boston Celtics included some impressive shooting performances.
Payton Pritchard and Derrick White set a Boston Celtics record by becoming the franchise’s first duo to each make at least nine threes.
On the other side, a Blazers player also had a historic shooting night for his franchise.
Anfernee Simons? No. Shaedon Sharpe? Nope.
Try Jabari Walker.
The third-year forward/center came off the bench to score a season-high 22 points with six rebounds while shooting 8 of 9 from the field and making all six of his three-point attempts.
Walker, a 2022 second-round pick, became the fourth Blazers player in history to make six threes without a miss. The others are Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Terry Porter.
“That’s amazing,” Walker told reporters at TD Garden. “I’ve been waiting for a night like this. I shoot so many shots in the gym. I spend a lot of time just preparing on all those shots that I worked on tonight. So, it just felt great to see it go through. And once I got into a rhythm, it just felt like I was in the gym in practice.”
Walker is not exactly a sharpshooter. The third-year forward entered the night at 26.1% from three-piont range after shooting 29.5% last season. His hot evening boosted his season average to 34.6%.
Walker’s previous best long-distance shooting night this season came Feb. 12 when he went 3 of 3 from three-piont range while scoring 17 points with seven rebounds in a loss at Denver.
During the team’s current seven-game trip, Walker and backup center Duop Reath have played more than usual because of injuries to centers Deandre Ayton (calf) and Robert Williams III (knee).
“I know that there’s opportunity in certain points during the season,” Walker said. “So, just tried to stay in the gym and keep my head high.”
Trail Blazers Celtics Basketball
Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard, left, drives to the basket against Portland Trail Blazers forward Jabari Walker (34) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)AP
Walker scored 12 points with five rebounds during a win at Washington on Feb. 26, then scored just 13 points over the next three nights.
Reath had a big game during Monday’s win at Philadelphia, scoring 13 points with five rebounds and two blocked shots in 18 minutes.
On Wednesday, it was Walker’s turn again to shine.
“I thought Bari was really good,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups told reporters. “His shooting was big time today. He couldn’t miss. We did a good job of continuing to give him the ball ... I thought he did a good job defensively, too.”
THE PERFECT 6 LIST
Jabari Walker: 6 of 6 on March 5, 2025.
CJ McCollum: 6 of 6 on April 2, 2016.
Damian Lillard: 6 of 6 on Jan. 2, 2014.
Terry Porter: 7 of 7 on Nov. 14, 1992.
The Blazers conclude their seven-game trip at Oklahoma City.
-- Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)