Derrick White is pivotal to another deep playoff run for Boston.
The Boston Celtics aim to win a second straight NBA championship, something that hasn’t been achieved since the Golden State Warriors went back-to-back in 2016-17 and 2017-18. If they want to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy for a second straight season, though, they’ll need more than just heroics from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Derrick White is instrumental to another deep playoff run for Boston, to holding another championship. Game 1 of the first-round series against the Orlando Magic proved that, as the former San Antonio Spurs guard played a huge role in the 103-86 victory at TD Garden on Sunday.
The veteran finished with 30 points (10-18 FG, 7-12 3Pt, 3-3 FT), four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal over 36 minutes during Sunday’s victory. Aside from leading the team in scoring, which is impressive in its own right, the fact that White also drained seven threes further solidifies his place as one of the best long-range threats in The Association.
After all, he connected on 3.5 of his 9.1 attempts per game during his 76 regular-season appearances, good for a 38.4%. He finished fourth in the NBA in 3-pointers made in the 2024-25 season with 265. The only players who made more 3-pointers than White in the regular season are Stephen Curry (311), Malik Beasley (319) and Anthony Edwards (320).
Three-point efficiency aside, White also showed he can step up and handle the Celtics’ scoring load in the postseason, something that was less of a certainty in years past. The 2024-25 version of White is a different one though. His performance during Boston’s title run last year seems to be a turning point that has taken White from solid contributor to a vital part of one of the NBA’s best offenses.
Across his 76 regular-season appearances, White averaged a career-high 16.4 points while also adding 4.5 rebounds (another career-best output), 4.8 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.1 blocks per contest. There’s no doubt White has proven he can be a reliable scoring weapon for Boston. He may not be tasked with shouldering the scoring load every night during the playoffs, but outings like Sundays against the Magic show that even if the opponent can limit Tatum and Brown, they’re still not out of the woods because White can change the game with his own three-point shooting prowess.
