On May 27, the Boston Celtics overcame a tough Miami Heat team to force a game seven in the Eastern Conference Finals.
After dropping a ten-point lead down the stretch, the Celtics almost lost their game-six contest, however, Derrick White popped up in the dying seconds to score a put-back bucket that iced the game and completed Boston’s three-game turnaround.
When speaking to ESPN following White’s heroics, Boston’s President of Basketball Operations, Brad Stevens, shared his thoughts on what the veteran guard brings to the Celtics rotation.
Derrick White wrote that he wanted to play basketball when he grew up — a dream that soon felt impossible. But 17 years later, he saved the Celtics, a franchise that had spent years searching for a player just like him. Here’s how they found each other:
“He does whatever it takes to win a possession,” Stevens told ESPN. “He plays really hard, and he’s really smart. And he always plays with a second effort…The best compliment you can get as a player is probably that you made everyone around you better.”
White has been a significant contributor for the Celtics during their deep postseason run and has amassed a playoff statline of 13.1 points, 3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 51.2% from the field and 47.5% from deep.
Marcus Smart Heaps Praise on Derrick White
When speaking to the media following the Celtics’ last-second victory over Miami, Boston’s veteran guard, Marcus Smart, praised the performance of Derrick White before crediting what he’s brought to the team’s rotation throughout the year.
“I tell you one thing, man,” Smart said. “If you didn’t know who D-White is, you know who he is now. I mean, that dude has been phenomenal for us this whole year. Just playing the way we knew he could play when we picked him up. And, it’s been refreshing for us and a joy to be on the court with.”
Smart, 29, is often referred to as the Celtics ’emotional leader’ and has been leading by example throughout his team’s Eastern Conference Finals series, averaging 13.8 points, 4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.5 steals per game on 43.1% shooting from the field and 38.9% from three-point range.
Jaylen Brown Urges Celtics to Grow From This Series
Shortly after the Celtics forced a game seven, Jaylen Brown appeared on TNT’s post-game show, where he answered questions about Boston’s resurgence over the last three games. When asked about how his team almost lost, despite having a 10-point lead down the stretch, Brown noted how he thinks the Celtics need to grow from the experience.
“I guess we just like doing it the hard way,” Brown said. “I’m not sure why we do it. It seems like when we get in those moments, we get a little bit apprehensive, and we kinda like it a little bit like we just don’t want to be the one that messes up, and it causes you to be the one that messes up. I feel like in those moments, we’ve just gotta grow, and in…this next game that we got, we just got to be better.”
Boston and Miami will do battle in game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday, May 29, with the winner being rewarded with an NBA Finals series against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, in what will be a tough matchup.
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Brad Stevens Hypes Celtics’ Derrick White After Game-Winner Against Heat