Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been sluggish thus far in Game 4, but Derrick White has picked up the slack
Fresh off the best regular season of his NBA career — a season in which he flirted with making the Eastern Conference All-Star team — suggesting that we haven’t seen the best of Derrick White yet is bold, to say the least. And yet, after his first half against the Miami Heat, it’s a claim that looks increasingly hard to argue with. White has been the best player in tonight’s Game 4 by far, powering the Celtics 53-36 lead at the halftime break. Thus far, White has scored 22 points — six made threes — grabbed an offensive rebound and swatted a pair of shots.
DWhite is COOKIN’ pic.twitter.com/OHpoC2A6S7
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 30, 2024
It’s been an inherently ridiculous display of shot-making, but it’s made even more impressive by just how much the Celtics have needed it. Both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been largely absent; the duo has combined for just 14 points. It’s been a passive outing from Tatum, the kind where you almost beg him to chuck up some contested shots, just to see some aggression. For Brown, the aggression hasn’t been in question, only the results: he’s 2-of-9 from the field and 2-of-4 at the free throw line.
Both teams opened this game in an offensive slump. The first six minutes of the game were dominated by chippy defense and an active whistle from the refs, with the 15-12 Boston advantage hardly blowing anyone’s socks off. Coming out of the first media timeout, though, White took over. He scored eight points in 58 seconds, forcing Erik Spoelstra to send the teams back to the sidelines to talk it over.
He hasn’t looked back since that initial outburst. Any time the momentum of the game has started to stagnate, he’s been the one to find answers. The two teams again slowed down the tempo as the second quarter began, with the Heat seeming to chip their way back into the mix. White broke that stalemate with a personal 6-0 run, connecting on consecutive threes to put the Celtics ahead by 16 and again force Spoelstra to call time and consider his life decisions.
WHY NOT LET IT FLY pic.twitter.com/qrcheyC9Ec
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 30, 2024
It’s especially impressive to watch White do this in the context of his growth since joining the team at the 2021-22 Trade Deadline. The player who seemed, quite frankly, afraid to shoot the ball in his first postseason in Boston is now leading a playoff game in scoring in his third. The Celtics are striving to take a 3-1 lead in the first round of the series and effectively put their playoff rivals — the team who sent them home last season — on ice. Improved play from Tatum and Brown would help that goal, but if Derrick White continues to perform at this level, it may not even be necessary. An incredible first half for the 29-year-old guard.