– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BOSTON — Cousy and Russell. Jones and Havlicek. Bird, McHale and Parish. The Big Three. The Jays.
After tonight, let’s welcome the latest and greatest Boston Celtics combination in their illustrious, championship-laden history: Derrick White and Payton Pritchard?
At least for one night, as those two complimentary-type stars put on a performance never seen by a duo in league annals, let alone in Celtics history.
Too soon to raise the numbers 9 and 11 into the rafters? Yes, but maybe not as premature of a thought upon first glance given the importance of these players to what the team hopes will be a championship repeat.
White and Pritchard combined to score 84 points, each topping the 40-point mark individually, as the undermanned (?) Celtics defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 128-118 inside TD Garden on Wednesday evening. Pritchard scored a career-high 43 points while knocking down 10 three-pointers, almost all but sewing up the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award in the process. White went for 41 points with nine threes, and the duo became the first pair of Celtics teammates to scored 40 or more points in the same game.
Yes, you heard that right. Also, White and Pritchard became the first teammates to hit at least nine three-pointers in the same contest, combining for 19 of the Celtics’ 23 threes made on the evening.
Oh, and we haven’t mentioned that three-fifths of Boston’s regular starting lineup were out with injuries, with Jayson Tatum (right shoulder impingement) joining Kristaps Porzingis (non-COVID illness) and Jrue Holiday (hand) on the list of inactives.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Wednesday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 45 pictures in total.
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