By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Payton Pritchard and Derrick White just made NBA history after becoming the first duo in a team to convert at least nine three-pointers each during the Boston Celtics’ resounding 128-118 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on March 6, 2025.
Pritchard top-scored the game with 43 points, while White added 41 markers on a special night where another NBA page in the history book got inked for a new chapter.
Aside from being the other half of a new NBA history, Pritchard cemented his own mark in the league by becoming the first player to reach the 40-point mark while grabbing 10 rebounds and draining 10 treys.
Pritchard shot an insane 10/16 from the rainbow country, while White also had an efficient three-point shooting performance after hitting nine out of his 17 attempts.
“They were tremendous. 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,” said Boston’s head coach Joe Mazzulla after witnessing greatness.
Without their starting members Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday, Pritchard and White carried the offensive load for Boston in a must-win scenario to further boost their chances of gaining home-court advantage in the upcoming NBA playoffs.
White first sizzled after already surpassing the 20-point mark in the first half, while Pritchard waxed hot in the third, helping the Celtics display their best scoring quarter of the game with 36 points.
The superb duo steered Boston to its largest lead of the game at 25 points, before Portland attempted a comeback when Anfernee Simons found his stroke midway through the fourth.
Just when the Trail Blazers were already hitting several haymakers, Pritchard and White responded for Boston, burying big-time shots that ballooned their lead back to double digits.
Portland never came back again and waved the white flag in the final minute of the ball game when the Celtics protected their 12-point margin.
Joining Pritchard and White as the only double-digit scorers for the Celtics were Jaylen Brown and Al Horford who delivered 18 and 12 markers, respectively.
On the other hand, Simons top-scored the Trail Blazers with 30 points alongside six assists and a steal but his offensive outing wasn’t enough to match Pritchard and White’s historic night.