Boston Celtics: 1 stud and 1 dud from road win over Pelicans

The Boston Celtics are the best team in the NBA. It does not matter who they play or when they play, they are taking care of business in dominating fashion.

The Celtics showed this with a 117-109 road victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night for their ninth straight win. Boston improved to 13-3 on the season.

The C’s offense was electric in the first quarter as they set a franchise record with 10 three-pointers. Al Horford and Derrick White were excellent from three-point range, as they were a combined 10-13. The Celtics finished the opening quarter with 40 points, which is impressive considering the Pelicans have the eighth-best defense in the league.

Jayson Tatum had an off-shooting night, but that did not slow the Celtics down. White and Jaylen Brown picked up the scoring load in a big way. Brown finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. Tatum had a solid seven rebounds and 10 assists but only scored 19 points.

The Celtics struggled in the third quarter as they had nine turnovers that allowed the Pelicans to get back into the game. New Orleans cut the Celtics’ 19-point lead to single digits and forced the Celtics to make a run. They responded in a championship manner to pull away and get the victory.

The Cs once again beat a team that had been on a hot steak. The Pelicans were on a three-game winning streak, and they were 5-2 at home heading into the game. Boston will look to continue their win streak and clean up the turnovers when they travel to Chicago to take on the Bulls on Monday night.

Here is one stud and one dud from the victory:

Boston Celtics Stud: Derrick White

Derrick White has been in great form lately, and tonight was the peak of that form. White once again started in place of Marcus Smart and played well. White finished with 26 points, three rebounds, one assist, two steals, and two blocks. White also shot an impressive 6-8 from three-point range.

White’s shooting has improved tremendously, and it has taken the Celtics’ offense to another level. When White is knocking down contested threes, it opens his game as he is an excellent driver. White had an excellent stretch in the third quarter where he made a three, had a nice layup, then forced two turnovers.

Although Jaylen Brown had an impressive near-triple-double performance, White deserves the nod for tonight’s stud because he needed to step up, and he did. If White is going to continue playing at a high level, it will allow the Celtics to give Smart even more rest, which is crucial for a deep playoff run.

Boston Celtics Dud: Payton Pritchard

Payton Pritchard is tonight’s dud as he took a step back following solid bench outings the last two games. Pritchard played five minutes and finished with zero points and one steal on 0-1 shooting from the field and 3-point range.

Pritchard also lacked energy in the game as he failed to get back on multiple possessions. NBC Sports Boston announcer Brian Scalabrine called out Pritchard for not getting back during the game. This is a bad sign for Pritchard, as one of his main jobs is to bring energy off the bench.

Joe Mazzulla ultimately benched Pritchard for the remainder of the game. Pritchard will need to get back to high-energy play, or his minutes could be diminished once more.