Derrick White Reflects On Celtics’ Frustrating Loss To Nuggets

The Boston Celtics entered Wednesday’s pivotal home game against the Denver Nuggets as heavy favorites. The shorthanded Nuggets were still without Nikola Jokic while the red-hot Celtics were riding a four-game winning streak.

Accordingly, it was a very winnable game for Boston. The Celtics led after the first and third quarters but were unable to finish the job, faltering in the fourth quarter and allowing Denver to pull off a 114-110 upset at TD Garden.

Boston was outplayed by the Nuggets’ bench and failed to finish strong, letting a potential win slip away and losing the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference in the process.

After the game, Derrick White reflected on the disappointing outcome.

Derrick White:

“Every time you go out there it’s an opportunity to learn, to grow. We’ve got to continue to build … Whether we won the game, we still have a lot of room for us to grow. It’s a journey.” pic.twitter.com/otfI4oqc67

— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) January 8, 2026

“Every time you go out there it’s an opportunity to learn, to grow. We’ve got to continue to build,” White said. “Whether we won the game, we still have a lot of room for us to grow. It’s a journey.”

White had three blocks but struggled with his shot on Wednesday, shooting just 7 of 19 from the floor and 3 of 12 from beyond the arc. He’s now shot below 40 percent in three of his last four games.

Losses happen, especially against good teams like Denver. All the Celtics can do is try to learn from their mistakes and be better next time.

Boston’s done a good job of that lately, losing back-to-back games just once over the last two months. The Celtics will try to bounce back on Friday at home versus the Toronto Raptors, against whom they are 2-0 this season.