Floor plan: White out to stay healthy, improve
Thirty-eight seconds into Sunday night’s game in Philadelphia, Spurs guard Derrick White caught the ball on the left arc and let fly.
Even before the ball ripped through the Wells Fargo Center net, coach Gregg Popovich thought it was a good sign.
“That’s the first sign that he’s back,” Popovich said. “That he’s not going to turn down threes.”
The game went downhill fast from there for the Spurs, who took a 134-99 beating from the Eastern Conference-leading 76ers.
If there was a bright side to the abject disaster that opened the Spurs’ five-game road trip, it’s that White appears to be rounding into form.
Again.
The 26-year-old guard’s fourth NBA season has been one of fits and starts. White had appeared in just 11 of the Spurs’ first 35 games heading into Monday’s contest in Detroit.
In between games played, White has spent lengthy time on the inactive list recovering from toe surgery, then healing a broken toe (same one) and then overcoming a bout with the COVID-19 virus.
Monday marked the first time this season White was cleared to play on the second night of a back-to-back.
It has not been the type of season White would have preferred after signing a four-year, $73-million contract extension in December.
“I’m just trying to help the team win,” White said. “And it’s hard to help them win if you’re hurt.”
The back-to-back toe ailments were frustrating for White. His coronavirus infection presented a different obstacle to staying in shape.
White ended up missing five games over 24 days while in the NBA’S health and safety protocols. Over that time he found league-mandated quarantine tough for keeping a player’s game at NBA readiness.
“When I broke my toe, I was still able to get in the gym and shoot,” White said. “I just couldn’t jump. I was able to touch the ball and everything. This one, I’m in a hotel for 10 or 11 days and just sitting there.”
White’s last game before the virus diagnosis was by far his best of the season to that point. In a 122-110 win at Charlotte on Feb. 14, White logged 25 points and pilfered four steals in 27 minutes.
It was his final game of 5-on-5 — in practice or otherwise — until returning from the inactive list for a March 10 loss at Dallas.
The constant interruptions have wreaked havoc on White’s rhythm.
“It sucks, but I’m getting back slowly but surely,” White said. “Everyone is trying to keep my confidence and helping me out through it all. Every game is going to be better and better.”
White’s teammates, meanwhile, have been impressed by his resiliency.
“He’s fought through a ton of adversity and I admire him for it,” forward Drew Eubanks said. “It seemed like just as he’s getting going, he gets COVID. It’s just tough, but he always toughs it out.”
White’s importance to the Spurs’ starting five is impossible to miss.
On the five occasions this season in which Popovich has been able to start what will be his preferred lineup going forward — White, Dejounte Murray, Demar Derozan, Keldon Johnson and Jakob Poeltl — the Spurs are 4-1.
Derozan was unavailable Sunday in Philly, missing his second straight game while attending his father’s funeral in Los Angeles.
A former NBA All-defensive team member, Murray said he has been encouraged sharing the backcourt with White.
“I’m real excited knowing what type of player he is and what he’s capable of and how we can play off each other,” Murray said.
An example came in the first half of the Spurs’ home win over the Magic on Wednesday.
Murray was defending Orlando’s Michael Carter-williams. When Carter-williams went behind a screen at the top of the key, Murray was able to pass him over to White, who forced a turnover.
That led to a fast break and a Patty Mills 3-pointer.
“He understands the game,” Murray said. “We’re all trying to help him in rhythm. It’s going to be really good (together) for years to come. You’ve got to start off by experience.”
White is not all the way back after his latest injury stint — he admits his decision-making is still in need of Rust-oleum — but the arrow is pointing upward.
He has logged 17 points in each of the past two games, including a 104-77 win over Orlando on Wednesday before the start of the East Coast road swing.
White’s 17-point performance on what was an otherwise disastrous showing in Philadelphia included a pair of steals and a season-best four blocked shots.
It was an impressive enough box-score line in the Spurs’ most lopsided defeat of the season, one in which Popovich began emptying the bench in the middle of the third quarter.
“We just got our ass kicked,” Murray said. “They punched us in the face. They didn’t let up.”
Indeed, silver linings were difficult to come by Sunday.
Asked after the game if there were any positives his team could draw from the defeat, which included a 46-point third quarter from the 76ers, Popovich was succinct.
“No,” he said.
That wasn’t entirely accurate. Given freedom to run amok in garbage time, Eubanks set new career bests in scoring (17 points) and blocked shots (four).
And White took another step toward feeling whole again.
If there is one skill White has mastered during this on-again, off-again season, it’s the art of returning from the inactive list.
“I’m confident I can come back,” White said.
He just hopes the third time coming back is the charm.