BOSTON — Derrick White didn’t exactly stuff the box score in the Celtics’ win over the 76ers in Game 2 at TD Garden on Wednesday night.
That didn’t stop Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers from dishing out some effusive praise of the C’s guard, however.
In fact, he believed the 28-year-old influenced a common theme among the Celtics.
“They’re a deep team,” Rivers explained postgame. “You know Jaylen (Brown) and Jayson (Tatum) are good every night, at least you account for that. But White, I don’t know if he scored a lot, but he was huge for them. His effort, keeping the ball alive, he made plays.
“When I watch the tape, what I’m going to watch is our lack of movement. They made every play, every tough play that had to be made, every loose ball, they got every long rebound. I think that’s what we’ll see.”
White finished with 15 points, one rebound and one assist in a team-high 30 minutes on the court. That’s kind of an “eh” performance when you look at it from the box score, but he also finished as a plus-23 in the box score and influenced some of the biggest energy-shifting plays in the game. His lone rebound and assist came on the offensive glass, when he tipped the ball out to Al Horford for a wide-open three.
It is plays like that that have come to define White’s tenure with the Celtics, and could help them reach the ultimate goal of a championship.
The Celtics might want to watch out for Rivers and the Sixers in a couple years, however, as they might try to scoop White up once he hits free agency.
