PHILADELPHIA — Derrick White went through his usual extended shootaround routine on Thursday in Philadelphia. He practiced set shots, mid-rangers, floater and mixed in some high-arcing ones. White missed often, something he continues to struggle with into the late stages of the Celtics’ series against the 76ers, but he’s more focused on shaking the misses off than over-analyzing them.
“We got over a lot of different things, just seeing different ways I’ve gotten shots in this series versus in the
past,” White said of his sessions with Celtics assistant Matt Reynolds. “Every game, every opportunity to make an impact on it in different ways. I’m not trying to focus too much on it, go out there and have fun, get an open look, let it fly and trust the work.”
White fell to 29.8% from the field and 21.2% from three across 47 shots (33 3PA) through the five-game series and has mostly repeated the same message throughout. Impact the game in other ways. Stay confident. Just play better. That amounted to grabbing two offensive rebounds in the final four minutes of Game 3 that led to Jaylen Brown’s go-ahead basket and Jayson Tatum’s decisive three with 26 seconds remaining. In Game 4, he chased down Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, blocking both on the break in an eventual blowout win.
Joe Mazzulla, who’s expressed no concern about White’s play throughout the first round, lauded the moment as affirmation for trusting his guard through his 3-for-12 shooting night. That didn’t play out in Game 5, where White logged 9:44 in the fourth quarter and missed all three attempts, including a wide open game-tying look from the corner with seven minutes left. Payton Pritchard, hot since the start of Game 4, only played four minutes and attempted one shot as the Celtics never converted a shot again — missing 14 straight to finish.
White only attempted eight shots in the loss, missing all four threes. Those actually went up from Game 4, where he closed with five shots. He only took five or fewer in three games during the regular season.
“Combination of, Game 4, (Pritchard) had it going,” White said. “Sometimes that happens throughout the course of a game or a series. So just gotta try to be a little bit more aggressive. I think I can do that, but just take what the game says and then go from there.”
Before Game 3, White noted that his routine stayed the same off the floor through his slump to begin the series. Play some solitaire. Spend time with his two sons. The coaching staff made adjustments into Game 3 by running more pick-and-rolls for him, resulting in an early trip to the free throw line. He played a longer stint and didn’t leave the game for Pritchard in Game 4. Mazzulla paired them together again late in Game 5 and pulled Sam Hauser, who hit two of Celtics’ three shots through the first five minutes of the fourth.
White will likely make one of the NBA All-Defensive teams next month and finished sixth in Defensive Player of the Year voting despite a down year efficiency-wise on offense that stretched across much of the season. He shouldered more responsibility from three this year, and in general with Jayson Tatum out for the first 62 games. Tatum’s return projected to make life easier for White on that end, but his splits dipped further to 40.7% from the field and 30.9% from three over the final 17 games. His 39.4% FG for the season marked a career-low and his 32.7% 3PT his lowest outside 2021-22 (31.2%), when he closed that season 30.6% 3PT after joining the Celtics at the trade deadline.
Nikola Vučević said the team’s plane ride and shootaround on Thursday felt normal after their Game 5 collapse in the second half. He credited the team’s championship experience for that demeanor. Several players smiled as R&B songs blasted and White played his trick shot game with Reynolds as teammates anticipate him turning it around at some point.
“Obviously, we need (White),” Tatum said after Game 3. “I could say it 100 times, we need him, we need him, we need him. It’s tough, as a basketball player, we’ve all been through it where you’re not hitting shots at the rate that you expect to or want to. Sometimes you just don’t make them, but D. White is an unreal basketball player who still just has his imprint on the game and makes plays on both ends of the floor, timely plays. Just never lose confidence in yourself. When he’s open, we’re gonna pass it to him, we want him to be aggressive, never turned down a shot and law of averages — he’s gonna start knocking them down.”
