Payton Pritchard and Derrick White combine to make Celtics history against Blazers

Against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night, guards Payton Pritchard and Derrick White became the first Boston Celtics teammates to both score 40-plus points in the same game. Wednesday night's matchup between the 43-18 Boston Celtics and 28-34 Portland Trail Blazers didn't appear to be one of the marquee matchups on the schedule. Yet the fans in attendance at TD Garden and those who tuned in from elsewhere were treated to some Celtics history. With Jayson Tatum (shoulder), Kristaps Porzingis (illness) and Jrue Holiday (finger) all unavailable and Jaylen Brown (7-for-23 from the floor) having an off shooting night, the Celtics needed their secondary scoring to step up. They got the boost they needed from two of their guards - in a big way. Those two guards were Derrick White and Payton Pritchard. Both set career highs in scoring, and in the process became the first teammates in Celtics history to both score 40-plus points in the same game. White scored 41 points, shooting 14-of-26 from the floor and 9-of 17 from deep. Coming off the bench Pritchard dropped 43 points on 14-of-20 shooting while hitting 10 of his 16 three points attempts. Pritchard also had 10 rebounds to complete the double-double. The two also had just one total turnover in a combined 82 minutes on the floor, as the Celtics beat the Blazers 128-118. Payton Pritchard led the Celtics with 43 points in a historic performance on Wednesday night. The 40-point combination wasn't the only history the two made on Wednesday night. They became the first teammates to both hit nine or more three-pointers in the same game, and their 19 combined threes are also the most by two teammates in an NBA game. Individually, Pritchard broke Todd Day's 30-year-old record (41) for the most bench points by a player in a regulation game in Celtics history (Larry Bird had 47 points off the bench in an overtime game late in the 1984-1985 season). He also became the first player in NBA history to record at least 40 points, 10 three pointers, and 10 rebounds in a regulation game. "We’re lucky to have them and it was a lot of fun to watch them do what they did tonight," head coach Joe Mazzulla said of the duo's performance after the game. "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 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." LISTEN: Derrick White joins Grande & Max postgame https://omny.fm/shows/celtics-on-98-5-the-sports-hub-1/derrick-white-joins-grande-and-max-3-5-25/embed?style=cover&image=1&description=1&download=1&playlistImages=1&playlistShare=0&share=1&subscribe=1 Click here to subscribe to the Sports Hub Celtics Audio feed Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was also impressed. "I haven’t seen that, man. I haven’t been a part of a game like that," he said in his postgame press conference. "I’ve seen guys catch fire, but two guys like that - I haven’t seen it." Beyond those two, Brown scored 18 points for the Celtics and Al Horford added 12 (and nine rebounds). No other Celtics player had more than five points. With the win, the Celtics have now won two games in a row and eight of their last 10 games. They currently sit in second place in the Eastern Conference, eight games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and 3.5 games ahead of the New York Knicks with 20 games left to play in the regular season. The Celtics are right back in action on Thursday night, when they host the Philadelphia 76ers in the second game of a back-to-back and fourth game of a seven-game homestand. Coverage of that game starts at 7:00 on 105.7 WROR and the Celtics Radio Network.