BOSTON—Move over, Splash Brothers. On Wednesday night, Payton Pritchard and Derrick White decided the Portland Trail Blazers were just a backdrop for their record-smashing, 3-point-launching, “who-needs-starters” masterpiece, dragging a short-handed Boston Celtics squad to a 128-118 win. With Jayson Tatum nursing a shoulder, Jrue Holiday sidelined by a finger, and Kristaps Porzingis under the weather, the Celtics’ bench brigade didn’t just step up—they stomped all over the history books, dropping jaws and racking up stats no one saw coming.
Pritchard, the 6-foot-1 sparkplug who looks like he could be your accountant, torched Portland for a career-high 43 points, including 10 3-pointers—tied for the second-most in a single game in Celtics history. Not content with just rewriting the record for long-range sniping, he grabbed 10 rebounds and dished 5 assists off the bench, becoming the first player since 1970-71 (when they started tracking starters) to hit 40-10-5 as a reserve. Oh, and it was his 20th game this season with at least five 3s—a Celtics first. Someone check the tape: is this guy allowed to be this good?
Then there’s Derrick White, the quiet bald guy who’s been secretly awesome for years. He dropped a career-high 41 points and nine 3s, turning the Blazers’ defense into Swiss cheese. White’s now the first Celtic ever to drain at least four 3s in six straight games, leaving Tatum, Kyrie Irving, and Isaiah Thomas in his rearview. Together, Pritchard and White became the first teammates in NBA history to each notch their first 40-point games in the same night—and the first duo to both sink nine or more 3s in one game. That’s not a stat line; that’s a fever dream.
The Night the Bench Became the Stars
With Boston’s big guns out, this could’ve been a trap game against a scrappy Portland squad led by Anfernee Simons (30 points) and Shaedon Sharpe (25). The first half was a seesaw—five ties, 15 lead changes—but the Celtics’ 23 total 3-pointers (on 47 attempts) eventually buried the Blazers. A 36-27 third-quarter blitz sealed it, and Pritchard and White were the ones holding the shovels. Coach Joe Mazzulla couldn’t stop grinning postgame: “They were tremendous… 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… To have a night like this where those two can show what they’re capable of was big for us.”
Let’s talk about these two for a sec. Pritchard, the 2020 first-rounder out of Oregon, has spent years as the Celtics’ microwave scorer—quick bursts of offense when the stars need a breather. This season, he’s averaging 16.8 points and shooting 43.2% from deep (per NBA.com stats through March 5), but 43 points? That’s not a burst; that’s a full-on explosion. White, the 2017 Spurs pick turned Celtics glue guy, has been a two-way stud (15.2 points, 41.8% from 3 this year), but 41 points and nine 3s is him saying, “Yeah, I can do that too.” Together, they’re the first Celtics duo to each drop 40 in a game. Sorry, Larry and Kevin—your heirs have arrived.
Hype Train: Full Speed Ahead
This wasn’t just a win—it was a statement. Pritchard’s 10 triples tie Kemba Walker’s 2019 mark, one shy of Tatum’s franchise record 11. His 20 games with five-plus 3s this year beat out even Ray Allen’s best Celtics seasons. White’s six-game streak with four or more 3s is a testament to his evolution from “solid role player” to “guy who might accidentally win Sixth Man of the Year.” The Celtics are now 8-2 in their last 10, sitting pretty atop the East, and Mazzulla’s right: “It’s a great gift as a coach to know when you have guys out, you still feel like the expectation is to win because of the type of people that you have.”
Portland tried—Simons and Sharpe kept it close early—but they were no match for Boston’s bench-turned-bazooka attack. The Blazers’ defense might need a support group after this one. Meanwhile, Pritchard and White have given Celtics Nation a new rallying cry: “Who needs starters when you’ve got these two?” Sure, Tatum, Holiday, and Porzingis will be back soon, but for one night, the backups stole the show—and the history books. If this is what they do when the big dogs sit, imagine what’s coming when the full roster’s clicking. The league’s been warned: Boston’s depth is downright unfair, and Pritchard and White are here to prove it, one absurd 3-pointer at a time.
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