Jimmy Butler attempted 11 attempts against the Celtics and only three were successful.
He should’ve gotten six. Derrick White made certain that he didn’t.
White had three shots blocked against the Miami Heat. Butler owned them all. Two of them were pursued.
“It impacts and inspires you when guys like Jrue (Holiday) and DWhite are getting chase-down blocks,” Jayson Tatum said after Boston’s win against Miami. “You don’t necessarily want to be the weak link out there.” You want to be able to hold your own.”
Boston has blocked 17 shots in its first two games, ranking second in the NBA. Kristaps Porzingis has a total of six. Holiday and White have a total of nine.
“During the game, he was like, ‘We’re gonna see who has more blocks at the end of the year,'” White said of a conversation with Holiday. “He’s a special defender, so it’s a lot of fun out there.”
While Holiday is dealing with a lot of what White was dealing with two trade deadlines ago, White has achieved a stride that seemed unfathomable when he initially arrived. He was hesitant to play physically and had to be urged to take the occasional foul. Fast forward to Friday night’s game against Miami, and White appears to be a different player.
“I think his confidence level continues to rise,” Tatum was quoted as saying. “The talent has always been there as he’s gotten more comfortable with us and in his own skin, but he’s starting to show more emotion and obviously have more freedom and things like that.” That also helps. So D White was key for us tonight on both ends.”
Early in the fourth quarter, White broke a tie with a solo 8-2 run that forced Erik Spoelstra to call a timeout. Six, seven, and eight points were scored on an audacious pull-up Heat check on a retreating Duncan Robinson.
“Hearing it from some of the top guys in the league that they want me to be aggressive gives you more confidence,” he said. “And Joe’s given me more confidence from the moment he stepped into the head coaching position, so all those combined just gotta go out there and be aggressive.”
White wasn’t receiving any minutes down the stretch a year ago. He played all 12 fourth-quarter minutes against Miami, scoring 14 points, dishing up an assist, and blocking one of Butler’s shots. In the fourth quarter, he nearly matched the combined 16 points of Butler, Tyler Herro, and Bam Adebayo.
“D White is coming into his own,” remarked Jaylen Brown. “He’s asserting himself as a leader. You can hear it a little more in his voice. He’s getting us organized at that moment, figuring out where to get guys the ball and keeping the flow and order. And, once again, D White has made significant progress. So all we have to do now is keep encouraging him to do so on both sides of the ball. We require him.”
The Celtics have always relied heavily on Tatum and Brown as the primary ball-handlers down the stretch, so it was especially telling that White was given more responsibility in this game than in any other in his tenure here.
“I thought Derrick did a great job of not only making plays when he had the ball, but setting the table and putting guys where they were supposed to go and making sure we were attacking the right matchup with the right set and the right coverage,” Joe Mazzulla, the team’s coach, said. “All of our guys need to have an awareness of what we’re trying to accomplish on these possessions, who do we need to get involved, and how do we do it together.”
That is correct. White will not always start the offense in the fourth quarter. However, the fact that he did and could is crucial for the Celtics.
We’re starting to understand that Boston doesn’t have to be a two-star team with everyone else on the floor dedicated on getting them the ball. Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis slammed the door shut in New York. Brown and White did the job against Miami. Who knows who it will be on Monday or Wednesday, but the more choices the Celtics have for game-winning shots, the more difficult they will be to defend.
“It feels fantastic. It demonstrates our team’s depth,” added Tatum, who only scored three points in the fourth quarter. “We have a really, really talented team, guys who can make shots and play, so this was a really great team win, and we figured it out, and it felt good to triumph in this manner.
The reason Brad Stevens chose White in the first place was his ability to make the proper play while working tirelessly. When he arrived, it was evident that he was a ball-mover who, if he could work on his jumper, might be a decent player. He’s clearly more than that now. White has developed into a clutch scorer, a true facilitator, and a game-changer, demonstrating that no layup is safe when he’s around… especially if you think you have a leg up on him.
He made some sick plays tonight.” “They were really good plays,” Mazzulla remarked. “There is no other way to describe them.” That’s exactly what he does.”
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