USATSI
The Boston Celtics have made a habit of setting offensive records over the past several years. Their 122.2 offensive rating a season ago is the best any team has ever posted over a full season. They are on track to break records for both 3-point attempts and 3-pointers made this season. The entire Joe Mazzulla era has been an offensive showcase, but Wednesday might have been the most impressive performance they’ve produced in that entire span.
Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis all sat against the Portland Trail Blazers, yet Boston still pulled out a 128-118 victory over one of the NBA’s hottest teams. They did so thanks to the remarkable shooting display from Payton Pritchard and Derrick White. Pritchard drilled 10 3-pointers while White added nine, giving them a combined total of 19. That sets a new NBA record for most 3-pointers made by a pair of teammates. While other combinations of teammates had reached 18 3s before, there had never been a pair of teammates to each make at least nine of them in a game. White and Pritchard have now done so.
NBA history is nice, but when you consider Boston’s place within it, team records are nearly as impressive. White and Pritchard set a few of those as well. Their 84 points are the most any two Celtics have ever combined to score, and they are the first set of Boston teammates ever to top 40 points apiece as Pritchard poured in 43 and White added 41.
On top of that, they became the first pair of teammates in league history to score top 40 points and with at least seven 3-pointers each.
Those were the major records set by the pair of them, but Pritchard achieved some history of his own. Only three players have ever scored 40 points, made 10 3s and pulled in 10 rebounds in an NBA game. You won’t be surprised to hear that James Harden and Damian Lillard were the first two. The third is now Pritchard, who is the first player ever to do so off of the bench.
Only six players have had 40-point, 10-rebound, five-assist games this season. The first five are All-Stars: Tatum, Paolo Banchero, Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The sixth now is Pritchard.
The Celtics haven’t been quite as dominant offensively this season as they were last. They’ve fallen all the way down to No. 3 on the offensive leaderboard, for example, but Wednesday was proof of just how dangerous this team still is. Even with three starters out, the Celtics have enough firepower to set records. That should terrify every team they face in the postseason, when they will presumably be back at full strength.
