You know the NBA is in trouble when the Celtics’ fourth- and sixth-best offensive weapons drop over 40 points in the same game.
That’s exactly what happened Wednesday as Derrick White (41) and
Payton Pritchard (43) scored career-highs in Boston’s 128-118 win over the visiting Trail Blazers.
The sharpshooting guards set a franchise benchmark, becoming the first pair of Celtics to each score 40 points in a game. They also became the first teammates in NBA history to each sink at least nine threes.
Pritchard — the favorite to win Sixth Man of the Year — became the first bench player in NBA history to record at least 40 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and 10 made threes in the same game. The most impressive aspect is Pritchard notched those numbers without a turnover, another unique feat in NBA history, per OptaStats.
Pritchard has been a flamethrower off the bench for Boston over the last few seasons, consistently making buckets when called upon. Last season, he sank 147 threes, which ranked fourth on the team. This season, though, he has taken his game to a whole new level, growing leaps and bounds as a passer, defender and all-around player.
The Oregon alum is averaging career-highs in points (14.4), FG% (47.9), 3P% (42.3), 3PM (3.3) and rebounds (3.8), and already has at least four games of 10 or more assists this season. His ability to run the second unit has allowed head coach Joe Mazzulla to rest his starters for extended periods, a key reason behind a relatively healthy Celtics roster.
Pritchard has made 203 threes from 61 games thus far, which ranks eighth in the league. It’s rather scary that three of the top eight 3PM leaders are Celtics teammates, with White (210) ranking fourth and Jayson Tatum (206) seventh ahead of Pritchard. That would explain why the Celtics lead the league in 3PM by a landslide with 1,107 threes from 62 games. The second-ranked Cavaliers have converted on 1,005 threes in the same amount of games.
