Powered by a season-high 42 points from Payton Pritchard, the travel-weary Celtics staved off a late-game surge by the Cavaliers and took a 117-115 win Sunday night at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena.
Pritchard finished strong, too, scoring 15 of the final 18 points scored by the Celtics in the winning effort, which came on the second leg of a back-to-back, and after a hellacious travel situation from Minnesota to Cleveland.
The 42-point outing was also just one shy of matching Pritchard’s career high of 43, which was set in a Mar. 5 game against Portland last season. And while it was not a career-best night for Pritchard, he did join an exclusive list in C’s history, becoming just the fourth player in team history to score 42 points in 30 minutes, joining Jaylen Brown, Larry Bird, and the late Tom Heinsohn.
For the Celtics, it was an unexpectedly close finish given where the sides were in the second half, with the Celtics at one point leading by 21 and with an 11-point lead through three quarters of play.
But it was a night where help was aplenty for Joe Mazzulla’s squad.
In addition to the first triple-double of the season for Jaylen Brown (19 points, 11 assists, and 12 rebounds), Jordan Walsh posted a career-high 14 points and 11 rebounds, and the C’s got a strong 29:50 out of Xavier Tillman at the center position in what was his first start of the season.
Mazzulla’s squad played this game without Derrick White (calf) and Neemias Queta (ankle/injury management), and have now won five straight games following a loss this season.
The Celtics will return to action Tuesday night when they host the Knicks in an 8 p.m. head-to-head at TD Garden.