Three Studs, Three Duds As Celtics Tandem Historically Torches Trail Blazers

The Boston Celtics have the type of roster depth that teams across the NBA envy. Want an example of it?

Look no further than Wednesday night.

The Celtics were without three starters in Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis and still had no issues taking down the Portland Trail Blazers, 128-118, at TD Garden.

A terrific 3-point shooting night, in which the Celtics hit 23-of-54 (42.6%) shots from downtown, propelled Boston. The Celtics also received a massive performance from an unlikely tandem to rout the Trail Blazers and move to 44-18 on the season.

Here are three studs and three duds from a couple of career nights for two Celtics guards:

STUDS
Payton Pritchard
Pritchard might have cemented his Sixth Man of the Year case in this one. He exploded off the bench to lead all scorers with a career-high 43 points — he had 37 by the end of the third quarter — and he added 10 rebounds and five assists. Pritchard torched the Trail Blazers from behind the arc, as he knocked down an eye-popping 10 3-pointers on 16 attempts. It didn’t matter if it was a catch-and-shoot triple or a pull-up one, Pritchard was knocking everything down and the Celtics made sure to find him all night.

Derrick White
White formed quite the duo with Pritchard as they combined to score 84 points and hit 19 3-pointers. They became the first Celtics teammates to both score at least 40 points in the same game. White, who also set a career high with 41 points, also did major damage from deep. He followed Pritchard’s lead by connecting on nine 3-pointers. White really was the tone-setter for the Celtics with three starters sidelined and he has been red-hot since returning from the All-Star break.

Jabari Walker
Perhaps the Trail Blazers forward was inspired by Pritchard’s performance. He tried to spark Portland by pouring in a season-high 22 points off the bench on a very efficient 8-for-9 shooting. It was a strong performance from Walker, but it was clearly overshadowed by what his opponents did.

DUDS
Sam Hauser
While Pritchard and White had shots falling at a high rate, one of Boston’s best 3-point shooters didn’t. Hauser continued to struggle as he only scored five points while shooting 2-for-9 from the floor and 1-for-8 from 3-point range.

Jordan Walsh
This would have been the perfect time for the second-year forward to break out with the Celtics down a few members of their starting lineup. But Walsh just hasn’t put it together yet. He plays with energy, which is commendable, but the results especially on the offensive end haven’t followed. Walsh scored just three points in 21 minutes.

Torrey Craig
What’s going on with Craig? The veteran wing didn’t even see the floor in the win for the Celtics. That’s peculiar, especially with the Celtics shorthanded. Craig wasn’t listed on the team’s injury report and it seemed like this was the perfect spot to get him some minutes. But Joe Mazzulla chose to do the opposite as it was Craig’s third DNP-CD since joining the Celtics a month ago.