Derrick White played, perhaps, the best game of his life on Wednesday night. He scored a career-high 41 points and shot 9-17 from 3, two makes shy of a team record.
And he still didn't have the best numbers on the team.
“It was amazing to watch because some of the shots he was hitting were incredible,” Payton Pritchard, owner of the better numbers, said after the win over Portland. “And he wasn’t hitting no rim. Just straight water. So, definitely fun to be out there with him and do it on a special night like this.”
Never in the nearly 78-year history of the Boston Celtics had two teammates combined for 83 points until Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown did it Friday night in a loss to Cleveland. The number was topped on Wednesday night by two completely different teammates who also became the only two to ever score 40-plus apiece.
“That's unbelievable,” Al Horford said. “What I was most impressed with is, Payton and Derrick just continuing to trust in the team, continuing to move the ball and trying to get the best shot every time. I felt like they did a good job of that. Sometimes when you get up in those numbers, you wanna press and feed the hot hand and things like that. That's okay to an extent, but I just felt like they had a good balance of when to shoot, when to pass, when to move it. That's pretty unique.”
Pritchard came into the fourth quarter with 10 3-pointers made. He just needed one to tie Marcus Smart for the most in team history. For a guy who hit four of them in the first quarter, one in the second, and five in the third, at least a share of the record seemed inevitable.
But with the Blazers closing out hard on him at the line, Pritchard took what the defense gave him. He took only one 3-pointer in the final quarter, instead going 2-2 on 2-pointers and drawing a foul on another.
“I didn’t even know I had 10 threes at the moment but I wouldn’t have gunned for it anyways because then it sets a new standard,” Pritchard said. “Hopefully I’ll break it one day. But the biggest thing was just about getting the W. And they made a little push so I wasn’t going to force a look that wasn’t there. I feel like that’s disrespectful to the game, disrespectful to my teammates. But if I got it in the flow and took a shot that was a good shot for us and broke it that way, then that’s the right way to break it.”
It’s hard not to respect a man who sticks to his code like that, especially with the crowd very clearly egging him on to shoot. Celtics fans are keenly aware of the moment and they reacted every time he touched the ball after hitting his 10th. Al Horford tried to make sure he got plenty of those touches.
“I was aware of it, and I wanted it for them,” Horford said. “I didn't bring it up to them, but any chance that I got, I was hoping for them to get there. But it's pretty unbelievable because they just made history."
Lost in all of the fun of the night was that the Celtics were without Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday. They started off cold from 3 and they were in a battle with a tough young team in the Blazers. Portland might have been driving tanks into the season, but they’ve put a nice run together lately. This was not just a matter of taking turns picking on team already stitching Cooper Flagg’s name onto a jersey.
“With guys out and playing against a really good Portland team, we were going to need to have guys step up, and the way those two played showed a lot about who they are,” Joe Mazzulla said. “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 are capable of was big for us. So we’re lucky to have them, and it was a lot of fun to watch them do that.”
White might be the poster boy for sacrifice on this team. He gladly fills whatever role he’s asked to, and he’s one of the main reasons why this team is so dangerous. He took a season-high 26 shots in this game, but he’s played in 11 games where he took fewer than 10, including two where he only took five.
“Tonight was fun, but we know what the bigger picture is,” White said. “We know what we’re working for and what we’re working towards. So it’s not about me and it never will be about me. Whatever the team needs, whatever it is that night, I gotta do it and just help us win games.”
It’s the perfect attitude to have on a team like this, which makes a game like this a perfect reward for these guys having it. They got to make history for a team overflowing with it. This wasn’t Larry Bird breaking Kevin McHale’s scoring record just for fun. This was a couple of guys creating a different kind of 40/40 club and enjoying the hell out of sharing the spotlight.
“Definitely special,” Pritchard said. “Just having the crowd behind you. I know I have a lot of love out here, which I definitely appreciate. So to have a night like this and to see the crowd get behind me, it makes me keep going and keep working hard to keep – you never know what the future can hold, so I’m trying to keep striving for greatness.”