BSJ Game Report: Celtics 128, Blazers 118 - Pritchard & White steal the show

Everything you need to know about the Celtics win over the Trail Blazers, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

Both teams were cold to start but shots started falling for Boston, fueling a 14-3 run to close the first. The five-point lead grew to 11, but only after Portland jumped back in front by five about halfway through the second. Payton Pritchard went supernova in the third to push the lead to 20. It got as high as 25, but the Blazers made a late run to cut it to single digits, but the Celtics were able to hold them off.  

Box Score

HEADLINE

- Payton Pritchard and Derrick White: I’m following Al Horford’s lead here. He got the in-arena walk-off interview and was asked a few different questions about the game and every answer was “Payton Pritchard and Derrick White.” 

This is the one and only headline from this game. They both set career-highs. They are the first Celtics teammates to ever score 40 points apiece. They are the only teammates in NBA history to combine for 19 3-pointers and they each had a chance to break the team’s single-game 3-point record. 

TURNING POINT 

Pritchard’s monster third quarter, scoring 19 points on 6-7 shooting (5-6 3pt) pushed the lead to 20. White’s 3 to start the fourth made it 25. The Blazer made a run to get it close, but they could never close that gap. 

THINGS I LIKED

The obvious: While I do appreciate that both White and Pritchard were not chasing the record, I was really rooting for both of them to at least tie it. This was fun to watch. 

Pritchard’s rebounding: He finished with 10 boards leading the Celtics in that category as well. Four of them were offensive rebounds, which continues to be mind-blowing. 

Finishing quarter strong: They made big runs to end the first and second quarters, which was important because the game was still back-and-forth at that point. They also won the last few minutes of the third, closing 13-7. They played the last 2:35 of the game even, which counts when holding off a hard-charging team that cut a 25-point lead to 10 at that point. 

Jaylen Brown finding a way to impact the game: I actually didn’t like that he played, and I think the knee soreness affected his ability to finish. He shot 7-23, mostly because he was unable to rely on his usual athleticism to get above or past a defender. But he found his way to eight rebounds and eight assists and he was Boston’s +/- leader. 

“I felt like Jaylen did a great job tonight of picking his spots, when to attack, when to draw the defense and then kick the ball out,” Al Horford said. “I felt like he was great with that, making those decisions and, really made the game simple for the rest of us.”

Al Horford: A nice night for Horford with 12 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE.

Jaylen Brown playing: I hope he gets tomorrow off. He needs more of a break. Knee soreness is not only something that lingers, it’s something that becomes scary if it carries into the playoffs and bit 40-plus minute workloads. I don’t want to go down that road. Rest him. 

Sam Hauser: Not only was it a rough shooting night (1-8 from 3), he left the game in pain after turning his ankle and he was limping in the locker room afterward. He also needs to sit out. 

Jabari Walker: Don’t think I didn’t notice that another non-shooter went ballistic against Boston. He was 6-6 from deep in this one. He came into the game 12-46 on the season. He raised his 3-point percentage from 26.1% to 34.6%. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- We needed a game like this.

In a season where 99% of what we’ve seen falls under some variation of “business as usual,” having a night as out of the ordinary as this is incredible.  

The weight of expectations can crush the joy of watching sports. Ask any great team expected to win a championship. Getting to the finish line becomes more of a relief than a joyous celebration. Fans tend to get upset at the lows and dismissive of the highs. Wins are supposed to happen and losses are not. 

Joe Mazzulla will tell you that's a hell of a compliment. And while he’s right about that, it also makes a lot of the good stuff too mechanical. We lose sight of how hard it actually is to win games. We don’t fully appreciate the talent and effort that goes into some of the big victories. 

It becomes boring, and that's not what sports is supposed to be.

We needed a game like this to be reminded of how cool this all really is. This game was just flat-out fun, and everyone in the building felt it. I’m almost mad at the Blazers for waking us up from a dream night by making a comeback. 

I’m glad we got a weirdly fun game. I’ve missed games like this. I hope we get more. 

Next up: The Celtics host the Sixers on the back-to-back tomorrow night.