BOSTON — The Boston Celtics are back, and so is Derrick White. The Celtics won their fourth straight game Tuesday night, holding off a late surge by the top-seeded Cavaliers for a 112-105 victory in Cleveland.
Defense was really the name of the game for the Celtics, as they logged 10 steals, six blocks, and held the Cavaliers to a season-low 39.6 percent from the floor. Star forward Jayson Tatum led the scoring charge with 22 points, while a 12-point first quarter from Jaylen Brown helped Boston build an early lead.
But as the Cavaliers crept back in the second half, it was White who stomped out any comeback bid by the only team ahead of the Celtics in the Eastern Conference. White scored 17 of his 20 points after halftime, including eight straight points in the fourth quarter to keep the Cavs at bay.
The Celtics are truly at their best when White is at his best and most efficient. When White is knocking down his shots, it’s impossible for an opposing defense to slow down Boston’s offense. There are just too many options on the floor.
White appears to be completely out of the slump that plagued him in December and January. He was 7-of-14 on Tuesday night and connected on six of his 12 three-pointers. He also had five rebounds, to go with a pair of assists, two steals, and a block in the win.
Derrick White erupts in the fourth quarter
White scored 14 points in the final frame for his most productive fourth quarter of the season. He canned two threes — both from more than 30 feet out — over the first 2:30 of the fourth, each of which put Boston up by 15 points.
White uncharacteristically missed a pair of free throws with 7:26 left in the game, and Cleveland answered with an 11-2 run to make it a 99-95 game with 5:30 to go. But when things got slightly uncomfortable for Boston, White took over.
With 4:13 left, the versatile guard scored eight straight for the Celtics on three possessions. White hit a nice pullup to push the lead back to six points. He pulled down a Donovan Mitchell miss, and capped a nice two-man game with Tatum when he drained a three to put Boston up by nine. After Mitchell made a floater, White took a feed from a driving Al Horford and flushed down another three to give the Celtics a 10-point cushion with 2:43 remaining. The Cavaliers never got within five points the rest of the way.
White was at his best in the fourth quarter, as he hit five of his six shots from the floor and four of five from deep. His outburst kept the Celtics from squandering a huge road win — the team’s NBA-leading 20th of the season.
Derrick White during Celtics win streak
The key makes. The clutch rebounds. The tough and scrappy defense. It was all there from Derrick White on Tuesday night.
That is Derrick White at his best, and White has been at his best over Boston’s four-game win streak. He’s hit 52.1 percent overall and 48.6 percent during the streak, averaging 18.8 points and 4.8 assists per game.
“That’s who he is,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said of White after the win. “The late-game shot-making. The ability to make plays. That’s who he is for us, and we’ve got to continue to fight to make sure he keeps that belief and confidence.”
For comparison, White hit just 40.9 percent overall and 34.1 percent over a 22-game stretch where the Celtics went 12-10 in December and January. Overall, the team is 19-3 when he hits 50 percent or better from the floor — and just 17-12 when he doesn’t or isn’t in the lineup — this season.
The Celtics run on Tatum and Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis is a cheat code that makes the team a nightmare matchup. But the team really hits its peak when White is making game-changing plays and shooting the ball efficiently.
Both the Celtics and White have returned to form over the last week, and the team once again looks and feels like a title contender.
Matt GeaganMatthew Geagan is a sports producer for CBS Boston. He has been part of the WBZ sports team for nearly 20 years. He moved over to the web in 2012 and has covered all the highs (and a few lows) in Boston sports.
