In Sunday's victory over the New York Knicks, the Boston Celtics had all five starters lead the way in their 118-105 victory. While the 'Jays', Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, led the way with Boston with 25 and 24 points, respectively, guard Derrick White was third-highest in scoring that afternoon, contributing 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists.
White's performance drew rave review from his coaches and teammates, including star big man Kristaps Porzingis. Speaking to the media after the game, Porzingis praised White not only for his all-around effort, but his ability to make big plays down the stretch.
"D-White, I think why we love him so much is just who he is and how he plays in general," Porzingis said of the Celtics guard who continues to show his importance for the defending champions. "One thing I love about him is when we need big shots, when we're a little bit flat he can hit a deep corner three or some clutch 3, he has this in his blood. He can bring us out of that bump we're in. That's one thing I really love about him as a teammate, he's always hitting really timely shots for us."
On the 2024 season, White has averaged just over 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists per game while also coming up with clutch moments on both offense and defense throughout the year.
Tatum, Brown, and Porzingis made be the Celtics 'Big 3' that get all the headlines, but they all respect and admire what Derrick White brings to the team as well.