As Derrick White walked to the free-throw line in the fourth quarter of Game 2 against the Hawks, “MVP” chants usually reserved for Jayson Tatum rained down from the rafters.
Is that blasphemy with number 0 on the floor? Usually…but for one night, the fans were right. White played the best game on the floor in Game 2, flaunting his versatility with a team second-best 26 points in just under 34 minutes.
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The Celtics outshot the Hawks from behind the arc and dominated points in the paint, putting up 64 to Atlanta’s 40. Boston capitalized off more turnovers, got more fast-break points, dished more assists, recorded more blocks and got to the free-throw line more than Atlanta.
Derrick White was at the center of it all.
“He does a great job of just making the right play,” Joe Mazzulla said postgame, praising Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon in the same breath.
White makes a lot of the right plays, be they hustle or strategic, but through two games he’s also shown the rare ability to be one of those guys who just seems to be everywhere. In doing so, he’s capturing the spirit of what can make this Celtics team great.
“I’m just being aggressive, pushing in transition,” White said, after the Celtics racked up 22 points off turnovers.
Some media (ahem) have accused this team of lacking identity. Last year’s group was laser-focused on their dynamic switching defense. But Mazzulla says there is no one identity for this locker room. They’re Jason Bourne sifting through a safe full of different passports. Maybe that’s a little sketchy. I actually never finished those movies. But the point is, just one identity?
“We have multiple, because of our depth,” Mazzulla said.
White graduated from a depth piece after the calendar flipped to 2023, but Tuesday he was a little bit of everybody.
He was Jaylen Brown in the paint, poised for a pass threaded by Tatum for a graceful layup.
He was Marcus Smart on defense, stuffing Trae Young behind the arc, grabbing the steal and dishing it to Tatum for a dunk to get the crowd on their feet.
He was Al Horford, finishing the game with three blocks and seven rebounds, (actually, much better than Horford’s numbers).
He was the best shooter, posting up 11-for-16.
Did I mention he stuffed Trae Young?
“We’re just so much more of a dynamic team when D-White is asserting himself and being aggressive, and not being too passive,” Tatum said, noting that White can sometimes look too quickly to make a play for someone else. “He’s, like, too good of a guy.”
White shined at times in 2022, but he was a player who admitted he sought encouragement after being traded from San Antonio in the spring and becoming a first-time dad during the playoffs. He sounds like a guy who’s just started to settle in.
“It’s been a whirlwind ever since I got traded,” he said after the Celtics’ win. He told NBCSports Boston reporter Abby Chin he thought those MVP chants were actually for Tatum.
“He’s been playing his ass off these last two games,” Tatum said.
It’s really early — Game 2 of the first round. But if the White keeps up this well-rounded play against teams more talented than the Hawks, the Celtics have a very dangerous player on their hands compared to who he was during last year’s playoffs.
And I might just buy into Mazzulla’s multiple identity theory, however “Three Faces of Eve” it may sound.