Coming off of a dominant 118-105 win over fellow Eastern Conference contenders in the New York Knicks, Jayson Tatum led the way with a near triple-double dropping 25 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. Jaylen Brown Followed in scoring with 24 points and eight rebounds of his own.

Another core starter for the Celtics, Derrick White, had a quiet 19 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, and a steal in the victory.

White always seems to be there when Boston needs him most, and that is exactly what center Kristaps Porzingis had to say about him after the game.

“D-White, I think why we love him so much is just who he is and how he plays in general,” Porzingis said. “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.”

Whether it is a late three, a game-altering steal, or keeping up his energy for 48 minutes, White clearly has an infectious play-style about him, regardless of if it shows up on the stat sheet.

His play that is documented in the box score, however, is much improved from last season. He is averaging more points rebounds, minutes, and three-pointers this year than the 2023-24 campaign.

As things currently stand for White, he is putting up 16.2 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game along with 1.1 blocks and 0.8 steals this season.

The playoffs are where White gets to another level, as he displayed last season

He put up 16.7 points, 4.1 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, and 0.9 steals per game through 19 playoff games on the way to banner No. 18.