Red-hot White looks right at home
Celebrates one-year anniversary of trade with 33 points
When Derrick White was traded to the Celtics at last season’s trade deadline, he was admittedly tentative. The guard experienced a difficult transition to his new team, being careful to not step on any toes on a championship-level squad.
What a difference a year makes.
White formed an important role on the Celtics in their NBA Finals run but struggled with consistency. But after a summer allowed him to breathe and reset, the guard has settled in and become one of the Celtics’ most valuable players this season. There was no greater example of that than on Friday night. On the one-year anniversary of his trade to Boston, White showed how far he’s come by erupting for a career-high 33 points on a career-best eight 3-pointers to fuel the Celtics’ 127-116 victory over the Hornets at TD Garden.
Jason Tatum had a gamehigh 41 points and Mike Muscala had a terrific debut with 12 points on four 3-pointers in 16 minutes in the third consecutive win for the Celtics, who were without starters Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Al Horford. They hit 25 3-pointers and had little trouble with the lowly Hornets, especially after White’s brilliant first half.
White — who finished 12-for-19 from the floor and 8-for-14 from distance after making his first six 3s — remade his shot over the summer. After inconsistent shooting last season, the results have been apparent. He entered Friday shooting 38% from long range.
Once timid, White’s comfort level was apparent in shooting the Celtics to the win.
“He just doesn’t hesitate,” Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “He catches it with his feet set. He does a great job of just, when he’s open shooting it. He has to be aggressive for our team to be well-balanced and successful. When he’s aggressive on both ends we’re a good team.’
White was so hot in the first half that his performance required a few heat checks. And after hitting seven triples in the first half, it looked like he might threaten Marcus Smart’s franchise record of 11 3-pointers made in one game that he set in 2020.
“Smart was worried about his record and it was just all fun and games,” White said. “He was a little bit worried about it but supporting me at the same time. So, it’s a lot of love.”
White scored eight points in the first quarter, but turned up the heat in the second period. With Tatum taking a rest to begin the quarter and without Brown, who’s recovering from a facial fracture, the Celtics needed someone to take on the scoring responsibility. White embraced the opportunity, as he drained three consecutive 3-pointers to turn the Celtics’ six-point lead into a 14-point advantage.
White made his first eight shots of the game — which included six 3-pointers. It included several heat checks, with one finally resulting in a miss. But by halftime, White had 26 points on seven 3s, the latter already a career mark.
White’s shooting cooled off in the second half, but he evolved into a distributor. He produced three dimes in the span of a minute in the third quarter, including a perfect backdoor pass to Tatum for a dunk followed by an assist to Luke Kornet for a reverse slam that put the Celtics up 25.
White made his eighth and final 3-pointer in the third, which needed a couple of friendly bounces from the rim to go in. It looked like he gave a Michael Jordan-esque shrug after it went down.
“I don’t think I did the Jordan shrug,” White said. “But … I’m like, ‘It must be one of those days.’ It’s good to see the ball go in. I even made that one in the second quarter where I kind of just threw it up there. So it was just one of those days.”
The Celtics led by as many as 28 in the third quarter but left their foot off the gas, which allowed the Hornets to cut it to 10 in the fourth quarter and forced Mazzulla to play Tatum — who logged 37 minutes — and his starters longer than he probably would have liked.
But carried by Tatum, who did the heavy lifting in the fourth, but more importantly White — who celebrated his one-year anniversary in style — the Celtics didn’t need to worry.
“Feels like I’ve been here forever,” White said. “Even though it’s only been one year, so just this year, just a lot more settled in, know where I’m going compared to a year ago today where my life kind of just changed at an instant. Like I said, I love being here and it’s just been fun playing with this team.”