Payton Pritchard And Derrick White Put The Hospital Celtics On Their Backs In Ways We've Never Seen Before In All Of NBA History

Over the last few years, we've seen a lot of awesome Hospital Celtics performances. Their ability to win at a high level despite missing multiple rotation players is what makes the Hospital Celts so amazing. It reflects just how incredible Brad Stevens' basketball brain is. He has created the perfect roster. 

For the first time in 33 straight games, Jayson Tatum finally took his WELL earned rest day. Porzingis is dying of the bubonic plague, and seeing as how last night was a B2B, he was out. Jrue has Mallet Finger so he was out. That's 60% of your starting lineup, including your best player who just so happens to be the player who does everything for you on both ends. He is the sun that all things orbit around, so without him, that meant someone else was going to have to step up. Playing a Blazers team that was 6-1 in their last 7 heading into this game, they were playing well, which meant the Hospital Celtics didn't have a ton of room for error.

What we got wasn't just one of the most entertaining wins of the season, it wasn't just one of the best performances in Celtics history, it was one of the most dominant performances we've seen a team have in NBA history. Sorry if that offends, but it's the truth. The Hospital Celtics did some historic shit in this very much needed home win, and while it was incredible to watch it also wasn't all that surprising. This is what they do. They are a thing for a reason, because they win

Joe said it best and it summed things up perfectly. The reason the Hospital Celts are special is because whenever we have the opportunity to see them, the expectations of winning do not change, regardless of the opponent. That's a special thing to have that is both extremely unique and is what makes this team Champions. 

It doesn't matter what the lineup may look like on any given night, it's still going to be belt to ass.

Let's dive in.

The Good

- Now, how does one decide how to kick us off when two players were more than worthy, each with their own historic performance? The good news is I'm basically an expert in this area and after going through the numbers, watching the film, breaking down the intricacies, I think the starting place is pretty obvious.

We begin with Payton Pritchard.

When you're looking at Pritchard's night, you also have to understand that this performance came while playing 43 straight minutes. Pritchard checked into the game at the 6:51 mark of the first quarter……and then played every single second the rest of the way. No subs, no quick breathers, nothing. Just buckets. Everything we saw was impressive, but to know the player did it while never coming out of the game after he entered midway through the first takes it to another level for me. That's some special, special shit from a player who prides himself on being an absolute DAWG.

Make no mistake, they desperately needed Pritchard early in this game as well. Things were tight in the first shift in the first quarter until Pritchard came off the bench and immediately cashed back to back threes. The way those looked combined with the history of the Hospital Celts, right away your brain started to go to dangerous places. We've seen Pritchard heaters before, shit we've seen Pritchard heaters against the Blazers before, and when he's locked in and that jumper is pure, he's as terrifying an offensive weapon as we have in the NBA. Look at where the man shoots from! This was his 10th 3PM!!

What makes Pritchard so dangerous is this very shot. It's not even really the fact that he made it, but more the fact that he takes it in the first place. There's zero hesitation from Payton Pritchard to launch from 30+ft,  and much like the threat of Jayson Tatum's pullup 3PA, that's really all you need to bend a defense. Teams HAVE to guard him that far out, because if they don't he has no problem letting it fly, and then he's also making that shot at nearly a 40% clip. Now once the defense creeps out, boom you're still dead. Why? Because now Pritchard can also get to the rim and finish at a high clip over taller defenders. Or, he's going to move the ball and your defense is so spread out, now someone else has a driving lane. 

Despite some other potential challengers, what this performance did is pretty much end the 6MOY race. When you look at where Pritchard currently ranks among bench players, this thing is a wrap

More than just a shooter, Pritchard's playmaking leap has been so great to watch this season. He has gotten so much better at running an offense, his patience has grown so much with the ball and his ability to read defenses and make quick decisions is better than ever. Not to mention he's also one of if not the best offensive rebounding guards in the NBA. He had another 3 OREB in this game, and that comes from nothing other than pure energy and hustle. Pritchard is willing to do whatever it takes to win, and that's what makes him perfect.

And perhaps my favorite part of his entire night? The postgame quote

A 40 bomb with only 5 FTA like he's Jayson Tatum or some shit, the perfect mentality and respect for the game and the Basketball Gods, this is it. This is the good shit. This is how you get rewarded with Larry O'Briens. Respect the game, don't make it about yourself, play hard at all times. 10 out of 10 no notes.

- Then of course, there was our beautiful bald savior, Derrick White. Not to be outdone, Derrick White made his own bit of history in this one with a 40 bomb of his own

Derrick now has 6 straight games of at least 4 3PM, which you'll never believe, but is the most of any player in the NBA this season. The way Derrick went supernova in the 2nd quarter is what helped the Celts get their initial separation, and I will go to my grave believing we are watching the best grenade launcher in the NBA. Just like with Prichard once we saw his first few drop and look pure as hell, we knew what that meant. We've seen Derrick carry before, especially while leading the Hospital Celtics. It's why he's the ultimate swiss army knife. If you need him to carry in certain situations, he has the skills and the confidence level to do it. If you need him to defend, he does. If you need pretty much anything on the basketball court at any given time, Derrick White will deliver for you.

It's just insane to think that you could pick any pair of teammates from any era, and any team in NBA history, and you've never seen what these two just did

I'm not sure what's more ridiculous. The reality that no Celtics duo ever had 40 in a game before, or the fact that Steph/Klay never each made 9 3PM a game. You could bet your life that 1000% of people would have said the Splash Brothers had done something like this, but nope. Never. 

To think that 3 games ago Tatum/Brown nearly had two 40 bombs, and then here we are with the 3rd and 6th guy on the roster being the ones to do it….is insane. 

- He couldn't make a shot to save his life (especially from the paint) which tells me his legs are probably a little heavy, I will say Jaylen had another great showing when it came to his playmaking. His second consecutive game with 8+ assists, last night was now the 28th time he's had at least 4+ and the 9th time he's had at least 8+. Considering he only had 20 of those type of games all of last season, his passing leap could not be more real.

What I liked about his approach in this game was that he was balanced. He had to be aggressive in terms of his shots given who was out, but he didn't let that get in the way of making the right play when there was a pass to be made. Finding Pritchard for open looks instead of forcing, making sure the hot hands continued to feast while also putting consistent rim pressure on the defense, overall I thought Jaylen's minutes were solid.

Again, the shooting was complete dogshit (7-23, 0-4), but 16/8/8 and a team best +15 in his 40 minutes while the others flourished was more than good enough. Frankly given how much he was fouled on a lot of those attempts, the efficiency should have looked much better because those misses would be FTA.

- I said it a few games ago, but after watching Jordan Walsh last night, there's simply no reason he should be losing minutes to Torrey Craig. Sorry if that's not fair, but he's been the better player on the floor and I'm not even really sure how someone could debate that. 

Walsh's energy made an immediate impact, his defense was solid, he made his only 3PA, he hit the glass on both ends of the floor, it was all basically exactly what that role requires. 

I get why they went and signed Torrey Craig. He's a veteran shooter. But the thing is, playing time is going to be inconsistent. There's no luxury of "finding a rhythm" as a shooter in this reserve wing role. It's not fair, but it's how it is. You have to come in, defend, rebound, and knock down open 3s. After his debut, Craig hasn't made a single 3PA, he's still kind of slow/old, and the rebounding has been "meh", especially on the offensive glass. 

So if you're telling me the shooting gap isn't going to be large between Walsh and Craig, then I prefer the developmental minutes of the younger player. It's just more important to you long term.

Hopefully Walsh gets even more run tonight on the B2B, because every time he plays there are flashes. Sure there are mistakes as well, but the potential cannot be ignored in my opinion.

- The Blazers defense has been among the league leaders for the last few weeks, so to see a shorthanded Celts team put up 128 on 46/42% with 23 3PM and only 9 TOs was fantastic.

Wouldn't you know that as the Celts continue to embrace Mazzulla Ball, they continue to win. 54 of their 97 FGA were 3PA, they rebounded the ball great, they feasted on 2nd chance points, and it was another game with a 25 point lead.

It's not rocket science. Mazzulla Ball works, and it works at an elite level.

- You can always tell when Al Horford is feeling great not because he's making 3s, but because he's running the floor like a 27 year old while also looking for contact by repeatedly posting up. I don't think we've seen Al post up this much since his first stint as a Celtic, and he's actually been pretty good!

In addition to those things, you can tell his legs are fresh because even his 3PA misses are "long". I usually only get concerned when Al is short on everything, that tells you his legs are cooked. But the way he's running the floor, looking for contact, and missing 3s "long", that tells me he's fresh as hell right as well enter the most important part of the season. 

A more than solid 12/9/4 in just 31 minutes and a +12, you just knew Al would dig deep and come through on a Hospital Celtics night. It's what he does.

The Bad

- It's hard to really be all that annoyed with anything given how many people were out, but we shouldn't pretend like allowing 118 points and 16 3PM is all that good. The Blazers didn't have a single quarter under 26 points, had their best quarter in the 4th (36), and as a team shot 50/40% from the floor.

Again, 3 pretty important defenders didn't play and the Blazers have been rolling as of late, but it certainly wasn't the most lockdown defense we've ever seen.

You also had to deal with the latest completely fake 3pt shooting performance that always seems to happen against this team in Jabari Walker's 6-6 from deep. This is a guy who has made 13 3PM all year. He'd only made multiple 3PM in 3 games all season, so naturally he was going to never miss and go 6-6. I found that to be very annoying.

- As much as we may want to pretend it didn't happen, this was the 3rd straight game we saw the Celts be unable to maintain their massive 25 point lead. Things got down to as close as 5 at one point, and while it's true every NBA team makes runs, it's hard to not be at least a little concerned that for the 3rd straight game we're having to stress these massive leads once we get to the 4th quarter.

Just cut the shit. I get being up by 25+ at all times is unrealistic, so how about you keep things in the 16-18 range after the opponent makes the run? We have to let things get down to 5-7??? I don't think so. 

So what caused the collapse? Pretty much the same formula. Jaylen was missing everything at the paint/rim, which most of the time are easy makes. Then the 3s start missing, all while on the other end the opponent throws up stuff that all seem to drop. 

In the 4th quarter alone, the 3pt difference was 5-9 vs 2-12. The Blazers shot 61/55% as a team with only 1 TO. Meanwhile, on the Celts side Jaylen was 1-5, Derrick 4-10 and all of a sudden a 20 point lead to start the quarter was trimmed to a 2 possession game with about 3ish minutes to go.

I'm not sure if it's becoming complacent, simply missing bunnies, prayer opponent shooting or what, but I do know I've over not being able to trust 22+ point leads. Figure it out.

- Not the best Queta night, in fact he was pretty brutal in his 6 minutes. That's pretty much the deal though, some nights will be solid, others a disaster. That variance is why he's the 4th center. The skill is there, but now it's about consistency, and I don't think we can truly go into a game knowing what version of Queta we're going to get. 

Another game of a general lack of awareness, some issues defensively, hopefully he's much better tonight.

The Ugly

- Celts got pretty lucky that Pritchard/White were on heaters, because getting a 2-9 (1-8) with negative defense and a potential ankle injury to Sam Hauser wasn't all that great. He has to be dealing with something with his back because his lateral movement is nowhere close to what we saw last season. Hauser is really struggling to guard in space right now, and the man couldn't buy an open look in this game. Usually in non-Tatum games Hauser's shooting is so important, so that was a bit of a prayer.

I do wonder why Joe didn't sub Craig for Hauser for stretches once it was clear Hauser didn't have it, but perhaps that was to maintain the spacing because even when Hauser is missing, he's guarded as a threat. 

So look, given we're at the time of the season where the Celts need to start being super cautious with health and minutes and resting guys, the Hospital Celtics are going to be crucial when it comes to finishing the season strong. The good news is that's exactly what they do. Sure you may not get two 40 bombs in the same game, but as we saw, the standard is still the standard regardless of who is on the floor.