Celtics Payton Pritchard dropped 43 points on Portland on Wednesday. Erin Clark/Globe Staff

By Conor Ryan

March 6, 2025 | 6:09 PM

Payton Pritchard seemingly couldn’t miss from downtown on Wednesday night at TD Garden.

Through three quarters of Boston’s eventual 128-118 win over the Trail Blazers, Pritchard had already connected on 10 3-pointers — just one away from tying Boston’s franchise record of most treys (11) made in a single game (Marcus Smart, 2020). 

But over the final 12 minutes of Wednesday’s game, Pritchard did not connect on another shot beyond the arc — finishing with his 10 3-pointers en route to a career-high 43 points in Boston’s victory.

Speaking to reporters after Boston’s win, Pritchard was asked why he didn’t try to shatter Smart’s 3-point record — given the amount of time left on the clock. 

“I didn’t even know I had 10 3s at the moment, but I wouldn’t have gunned for it anyways because then it sets a new standard,” Pritchard said. “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.” 

Even though Pritchard did not set a new Celtics record with his 3-point shooting, both he and teammate Derrick White did manage to rewrite the record books in one area. 

While Pritchard finished with a career-best 43 points, White followed suit with a career-best 41 points of his own — becoming the first Celtics teammates to reach the 40-point threshold in the same game. Both Pritchard and White are also the first teammates in NBA history to both sink at least 9 3-pointers in a single game. 

“The way those two played showed a lot about who they are,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said of Pritchard and White. “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.”

Pritchard may not stand alone atop one of Boston’s single-game records, but a performance like Wednesday’s might have all but locked up his bid of winning the Sixth Man of the Year Award this season. 

The 27-year-old guard is averaging 14.4 points per game this season to go along with 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per contest while only averaging 28.1 minutes a night. He has connected on 42.1 percent of his 3-point shots all season long. 

“Me and P were talking about it and it was kind of crazy like, we weren’t even hitting the rim, just swishes,” White said postgame. “You get hot and I felt like I was getting a lot of really good looks, and so credit to the offense that we were running and the guys for finding me.”

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