The Boston Celtics made their first fully healthy trip to the floor during Friday night’s NBA Cup matchup with the Chicago Bulls, however, guard Derrick White made an early departure during the third quarter.
White suffered a right foot injury with 8:08 remaining before the start of the fourth quarter, prompting a substitution — Payton Pritchard. Boston overcame White’s absence and escaped with a 138-129 victory, giving the Celtics a plus-23 point differential and a chance at clinching a spot in the NBA Cup’s knockout round in Las Vegas.
“He said he was gonna be okay but I don’t know how he’s doing,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “So I gave him a high five back there, I asked him how he was doing. He said he would be fine but I don’t know other than that yet.”
White logged 24 minutes, scoring 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field with five rebounds, four assists and a steal. The 30-year-old was on pace for a solid night, knocking down four 3-pointers as well, and giving the Celtics everything needed to overcome a lowly Bulls team playing with a chip on its shoulder. Boston struggled to break away from a toe-to-toe offensive back and forth with Chicago but White’s early trip to the locker room, oddly enough, helped the Celtics inadvertently.
Pritchard’s opportunity allowed the early Sixth Man of the Year candidate to erupt with a wildfire-hot fourth quarter. He scored 19 points in the final frame, finishing with 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 7-of-11 from three. Pritchard’s contributions off Boston’s bench, which finished with just 34 points, ended up bailing the Celtics out in a must-win situation in the Windy City.
“Talent is just being confident in yourself,” Pritchard told reporters, per team-provided video. “Knowing that you belong with the best, and all the hard work and the hours you put in, in the summertime that you’re capable of coming and helping the team win any given night. So, I have a strong belief in myself and I feel like my teammates believe in me too to be able to take that on.”
Boston listed White as questionable for Sunday night’s marquee matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, joining Kristaps Porzingis (injury management), Jrue Holiday (right adductor tightness) and Al Horford (left big toe sprain) on the list of maybes.
