The Boston Celtics might not be the deepest team in the league, but they are deep enough. They have one of the best starting lineups in the NBA when everyone is healthy.
On Wednesday night, they were not fully healthy. The Celtics were missing three starters in their game against the Portland Trail Blazers.
They were without Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porzingis. Yet, they were able to beat a red-hot Portland team by ten points.
That was made possible by monster performances from Derrick White and Payton Pritchard. They each had over 40 points in this game en route to a 128-118 Celtics victory.
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Pritchard had 43 points, while White had 41. It was an incredible performance, as both of them set career highs for points scored in a game.
Their head coach had some high praise for them following the game. Joe Mazzulla was very pleased with how they played.
“They were tremendous,” Celtics coach Mazzulla told reporters. “I think with guys out and playing against a really good Portland team, we knew we were gonna need to have guys step up. And the way those two played just shows a lot about who they are. They do a lot of the dirty stuff when we’re fully healthy. They do a lot of the things for the team. And to have a night like this where those two can show what they’re capable of, was big for us. We’re lucky to have him, and it was a lot of fun to watch him do that.”
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Mazzulla knows how important each of them is to the team. While he can't expect to get performances like this from them every game, they are good players to have.
White has seemingly snapped out of the shooting slump that plagued him early in the season. Pritchard has been shooting well all season long.
So far this season, White is averaging 16.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. Pritchard is averaging 14.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game.
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