Cause for panic? Hardly. Every playoff run features a clunker or two. But this loss was a reminder that the Banner No. 19 burden can’t be exclusive to The Jays. The Celtics need to operate at full capacity, and that means getting Derrick White and Payton Pritchard dialed in from distance. The savvy guards were harmonious basketball background singers for Jaylen Brown’s frontman act when Jayson Tatum was out. They set career highs in points per game this season ― Pritchard at 17 and White at 16.5.
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While they can impact the game in other ways besides shot-making, especially White, a sui generis defensive virtuoso, they’ve been off key in this series, missing their cues and their shots.
The Celtics shot a woeful 13 for 50 from 3-point range Tuesday night. White and Pritchard were two of the biggest culprits. White was 2 for 10 from beyond the arc and 3 of 12 from the field for 8 points. Pritchard couldn’t summon “Playoff P” and clanged all four of his threes while finishing with 4 points on 2-for-8 shooting. While the 76ers put five players in double figures, no Celtics other than Brown, who racked up 36 points, and Tatum, who added 19, reached double digits.
Brown was asked how the Celtics can get more from their stellar supporting cast, headlined by White and Pritchard.
“Just keep finding them. Keep trusting them. Trust him and Payton. Both got good looks tonight. Both got some open shots. That’s what we want,” said Brown.
“So, continue to trust that process. Just continue to play Celtic basketball … We trust Payton. We trust Sam [Hauser]. We trust Baylor [Scheierman]. We trust all of those guys to come in and impact the game.”
Neither White nor Pritchard shot the ball well in Game 1, either. But it went unnoticed as the Celtics trounced the 76ers, who couldn’t throw the ball into the Atlantic, shooting 4 of 23 from 3-point range. In Game 1, White missed 5 of 7 threes. Pritchard clanked 7 of 9 treys.
The two fan-favorite guards are averaging a combined 17 points per game, shooting a combined 31 percent from the floor and 16.7 percent from 3-point distance. That’s not a typo. That’s probably a sample-size blip. But it better not become a trend.
White had an uncharacteristically uneven season shooting. He finished with the lowest overall field goal percentage of his career (39.4 percent).
Their struggles in Game 2 were highlighted by the fact that Philly’s backcourt of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe went off. Edgecombe echoed his 34-point NBA debut against the Celtics at the Garden on Oct. 22 by scoring 30 points in Game 2 and draining six threes.
Maxey outscored The Jays combined in the fourth quarter, 12-11. He drilled back-to-back triples after the Celtics clawed within a bucket (91-89) in the fourth to stiff-arm a Boston comeback and spark an 11-0 Philly run that sounded the Celtics’ eulogy.
What separates the Celtics from the rest of their Eastern Conference competition isn’t just the presence of two All-NBA talents in Tatum and Brown. It’s their overall depth and the presence of high-end role players such as White, a darling of NBA coaches and cognoscenti, and Pritchard, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year and a certified shot-maker who can generate his own offense.
On the to-do list for the Celtics as the series swings to Philadelphia is getting White and Pritchard untracked.
“I mean, there’s a lot of open looks and looks that they normally make,” said Tatum. “I don’t know how many they made this year, but I remember last year both those guys made 250-plus threes.
“They’re great shooters. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in. But [we] never lose confidence in them, and they’ll be ready. We’ll all be ready, Friday.”
This was a different version of the 76ers than the team the Celtics bulldozed by 32 points in Game 1. This team pushed back and punched back. After an 0-6 start from 3-point land, Philly landed 19 of 33 the rest of the way.
The Celtics aided the Sixers in finding their footing. Boston committed some careless live-ball turnovers that led to easy Philly points. The 76ers had just 10 fast-break points in Game 1. They notched 10 fast-break points in the first half of Game 2.
Tatum preached emotional stability. Don’t overreact to one result, negative or positive.
“Just being through it so many times, the playoffs is a roller coaster,” said Tatum, who finished one assist shy of a triple-double with 14 rebounds and nine assists.
“I think what I’ve learned throughout my nine years in the playoffs is just stay even-keeled throughout.”
But it will take more than mindfulness from the Celtics. It’s about making sure their Core Four fires on all cylinders.
Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @cgasper and on Instagram @cgaspersports.
