Derrick White continues hot streak in Game 1 domination over Cavaliers

“Derrick White! Derrick White! Derrick White!”

The roar of fans echoed throughout TD Garden on Tuesday night as Derrick White took over the third quarter. Bucket after bucket, chant after chant, he single-handedly picked apart the Cleveland Cavaliers for the entire period.

“It was awesome,” White said of the chants. “Shoutout to the fans always. I’m thankful, and I’m grateful for them always.”

White’s 14-point third-quarter explosion contributed to his 25-point evening in the Boston Celtics’ Game 1 win over Cleveland in Round 2 of the NBA Playoffs. It marked his third game in a row with at least 25 points, tracking back to his 38-point masterclass in Game 4 against the Miami Heat.

“I love the way he’s been playing on both ends of the floor,” said Jayson Tatum. “It just puts a lot of pressure on the defense tonight and last series. We’ve got a lot of different ways to win a game, and it’s tough for the other team to kinda try and figure that out.”

White’s monster scoring nights are products of efficient shooting, too. He shot 9/16 from the field and 7/12 from beyond the three-point arc against the Cavaliers on Tuesday.

He became just the third player in NBA history with 20 threes made over a three-game span in the playoffs. The others? Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Jamal Murray. “Hell of a [group of] players, that’s for sure,” White said.

In fact, his 22 over the course of his last three games ties Murray for the record.

Through six playoff games, White is averaging 22.8 points while shooting 57.5% from the floor and 50.0% from distance. He’s the second-leading scorer on the Celtics, behind only Brown, and attempting a team-high 9.3 threes per contest.

“Just trying to take what the defense gave me,” White said of his pull-up threes. “On one of them, they went under, so that’s why I shot it. Just trying to read the pick-and-roll every time and see what they’re trying to do. We understand they’re going to make adjustments, so just trying to be ready for what it is.”

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

White’s shot-making has been a product of an elite Celtics lineup.

Tatum’s shooting slump has been masked by his constant willingness to make the right play, as defenses send multiple bodies at him, and he just dishes out simple passes.

Brown’s aggressiveness, especially in Game 1 against Cleveland, has collapsed defenses, leading to more space for others.

Opposing teams can’t put their best player on everybody. Tatum almost always draws that assignment, and when he’s cold, or Brown is hot, it may flip-flop. But that almost always leaves White open.

“It’s important because it means – usually, the shots that he takes are because we are out in transition, we set really good screens, and he has that, or there are two-on-ones, and we’re making the right passes,” Joe Mazzulla said. “I think when those guys get more and more shots, it means we’re getting to the different layers of our offense, which is important against a team like this.”

At the end of the day, it’s up to White to make the shots. If the ball finds him in advantageous spots, it’s useless if he misses. But he hasn’t been.

“I think I’m getting pretty good looks,” White said. “And then obviously, you make a couple, the basket gets a little bigger, and you kind of take and make tougher ones. I definitely started the game with some good looks and then just went from there.”

From his late-game heroics in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals to his improved play throughout the course of the 2023-24 regular season, White has become one of the most impactful players in the league. And so far this postseason, that trend has only been amplified.

And now, we’re seeing a version of White that the world hasn’t seen before.

“Just being aggressive. Taking what the defense gives,” Brown said of White. “Just being a catch-and-shoot threat, first off, but taking advantage of his matchups.

“Derrick White has grown. This is a new version that we haven’t seen before. Like, he has put the work in. His body has developed a little bit. He’s got some more playoff experience. And he’s being aggressive. And we urge him to do that. We’re going to need that more and more down the line.”