BOSTON — ESPN didn’t put him on its top 100 players list. The Celtics didn’t give him an extension before the deadline. But when Friday’s game was on the line in the fourth quarter, Derrick White was close to, if not the best player on the floor in a highly-charged Eastern Conference final rematch. He was the reason the Celtics came out on top, 119-111, at TD Garden.
The underrated and underpaid guard had a game-high 28 points and shot 5-for-7 from 3-point range. He continued to be one of the game’s best chase-down shot-blockers and finished with three blocks in the game. White, whose new shaved head makes him look a boxer, landed his biggest shots in the late rounds. He played all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter and scored 14 of his points in the final frame.
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It’s Game 2 of the season, too early to draw too many real conclusions. But it’s the Heat, so it matters. Miami knocked Boston out of the playoffs last year and no regular season victory is going to erase that sting, but for the Celtics and the fans at TD Garden beating the Heat on Friday obviously felt a lot better than losing would have.
For White, it was another step. After being good against the Knicks in the fourth quarter, he was great against Miami.
“That’s what he does. He has the humility to do what’s best for the team,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “But when his number is called he shows up regardless. That’s big for us.”
It wasn’t just that White played really well. Although he obviously did. But the game featured seven players who were on the ESPN list, each of whom gets more attention and makes more money. But White was certainly better than the eighth-best player on the floor.
But against those players, he was aggressive. He didn’t defer to Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday or Kristaps Porzingas on offense and he went after the Heat’s star players on defense. With 3:44 left and the Celtics trying to pull away, White chased down Jimmy Butler and blocked his dunk attempt, a play that gave the home fans energy and seemed to take it from the Heat.
“His confidence level continues to rise. He’s gotten more comfortable with us and in his own skin. The talent has always been there,” Tatum said. “I’ve been an advocate for D-White since he joined the team three years ago. I tried to tell him to be more aggressive. To score. To attack. To make plays. He’s at his best when he’s being aggressive.”
White, who began his college career in Division II and his professional career on the G-League’s Austin Spurs, didn’t have an easy path to NBA crunch-time shooter. So the encouragement of his his elite teammates isn’t something he took for granted.
“Credit to those guys for giving me confidence and trusting me that I’m going to try to make the right plays every time,” White said. “When you’re hearing from some of the top guys in the league that they want me to be aggressive, it gives me more confidence.”
Erik Spoelstra wouldn’t mind if White backed off a bit. White’s performance wasn’t the result of Miami overlooking him.
“He’s had some good games against us in the playoffs,” the Heat coach. “He’s not a secret.”
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Because the spotlight is so often concentrated elsewhere, it’s easy to underrate White, but games like Friday make that harder. The days of him watching in the fourth quarter are over.
“The plays he made tonight were sick,” Mazzulla said shaking his head with admiration. “Just sick plays.”
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
