"The New Guy" Continues to Shine and Thrive For the Celtics

Boston has an early series lead in the NBA Finals, and the play of Derrick White has been a key to their postseason success. Will he continue providing a much-needed spark for the Green team?

SAN FRANCISCO – A lot of the credit for Boston taking early control of the NBA Finals with a Game 1 win over Golden State, can be credited to the play of their young and not-so-young veterans.

But as they look to build on their success in Game 1, the Celtics will continue to find themselves leaning on the play of the ‘new guy’ - Derrick White.

Acquired at the February trade deadline from San Antonio in exchange for Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford and Boston’s 2022 first-round pick, White has been one of the driving forces behind Boston’s deeper-than-expected playoff run this year that has them three wins away from an NBA title.

“Yeah, it's been fun ever since I've been here, just all the defensive coverages we do, the way we can mix and match and make changes throughout the game,” White said.

He has provided a much-needed lift to Boston’s second unit in addition to being a reliable fill-in from time to time as a starter.

When the Celtics acquired him, much of the decision centered around his versatility as a defender, being a playmaker who can organize the offense and someone who can knock down an occasional jumper.

And while teams have focused more of their defensive attention on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, White has also forced teams to re-think their “let him shoot” mindset.

In Game 1, Boston pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 120-108 win.

White came off the Celtics bench and scored 21 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field which included a career-high five made 3-pointers.

His late-game exploits included six points in the fourth, which was more fourth-quarter points than Warriors stars Klay Thompson (5 points) and Steph Curry (4).

“I missed my first two (shots), but they felt great so I just stayed confident,” White said. “Teammates and coaches have always told me to stay confident. It's good to see that one go down, and just got on a roll from there.”

Keeping White confident in his shot-making has been one of the few challenges Boston has had with the former Spur. Playing with high-level scorers like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, led to White being somewhat reluctant to shoot the ball during his early days with his new team.

But with vocal teammates constantly encouraging him, White has had plenty of folks pulling for him to be an impact shot-maker.

He also benefited from being part of the Team USA’s National Team in 2019. On that team along with White, were a slew of Boston Celtics in Tatum, Brown, Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker who is now on the New York Knicks roster.

The Celtics players took a liking to him right away, but the connection between the defensive-minded Smart and White was noticeably strong.

“Watching him play before we got to (Team) USA reminded myself a little bit of me,” said Marcus Smart. “So just instantly, off the bat, I loved the way he played. Coming into that when we would practice, he was never backing down no matter what. When you got a guy like that, and me, a guy like Derrick, it's always going to be some battles.”

That is why the Celtics coaches have raved about how great a fit he is with this team.

“Derrick brings a lot of versatility,” Celtics assistant coach Will Hardy who worked with White in San Antonio, told me shortly after the White trade became official. “He can play on the ball, he can play off the ball. He can guard multiple positions. He has a really good feel for the game. He’s a guy that’s going to complement our group well on both ends of the floor.”

And he’s taken his game to another level since the birth of his son, Hendrix.

Since his son’s birth last month, White has averaged 13 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 45.6 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point range - all higher than his season averages.

“It's nothing but respect there,” Smart said. “Every day he's done something new to make you go, That's why he's here.”