Derrick White Wins First Career NBA Player of the Week Award

https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/derrick-white-earns-first-career-player-of-the-week-award



Derrick White Earns First Career Player of the Week Award


Taylor Snow
Taylor Snow●@taylorcsnow
Sr. Writer
February 13, 20238:01 PM EST



Derrick White was named Player of the Week for the first time in his career Monday afternoon, earning Eastern Conference honors after a brilliant four-game stretch from Feb. 6 – 12.

White was one of several players who stepped up for the Boston Celtics while both members of their starting backcourt – Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart – were out with injuries.

The veteran guard averaged 24.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 1.5 blocks, and just 1.5 turnovers per game during a 4-0 stretch for the C’s, while shooting 52.2 percent from the field, 51.5 percent from 3-point range, and 90.0 percent from the free-throw line.

White’s 17 3-pointers were the second-most among East players throughout the week, trailing only teammate Sam Hauser’s 19. White also had the second-most assists in the league with 30 and had the most blocks of any NBA guard with five.

Detailed below are White’s four performances from the week.


2/6 at Detroit
White began the week with his most well-rounded game in a Celtics uniform. On Monday night in Detroit, he poured in 23 points, corralled seven rebounds, and dished out a team-high seven assists while committing just one turnover. He shot 8-of-17 from the field, 2-of-4 from 3-point range, and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. White also led the game with a plus-18 in 37 minutes of action, leading the C’s to a 111-99 win on the road.


2/8 vs. Philadelphia
Wednesday night’s effort against Philadelphia was the only game of the week in which White did not reach the 20-point mark. Ironically, he still scored enough to hit a significant single-game points milestone for the team. White and Malcolm Brogdon led Boston in scoring with 19 points apiece, becoming the first players not named Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum to accomplish the feat this season. Brown had to leave in the second quarter with just four points after suffering a facial fracture, and Tatum had an off-shooting night, finishing with only 12 points. White shot a team-best 8-for-13 from the field, including 3-of-6 from long range. He also grabbed six rebounds, dished out three assists, and blocked two shots while leading the C’s to a 106-99 win over their Atlantic Division rival.


2/10 vs. Charlotte
White followed up his game-high scoring total against Philly with a career-high scoring total against Charlotte. The 6-foot-4 guard erupted for 33 points on Friday night, shooting 12-of-19 from the field, 8-of-14 from deep, and 1-of-1 from the free-throw line. He was dominant out of the gate, making his first six 3-point attempts, and finished the first half with seven triples, tying a franchise record for most threes in a half. White was also a key distributor, leading the game in assists with 10 while committing just one turnover. And, he came up big on the defensive end, finishing with a game-high three blocks. White tallied a game-best plus-21 in 37 minutes, guiding the Celtics to a 127-116 win. He became the first player in NBA history to record at least eight 3-pointers, 10 assists, and three blocks in a single game.


2/12 vs. Memphis
White wrapped up the week Sunday afternoon against Memphis with his second straight double-double. He led the team in scoring for the second time in three games with 23 points on 8-of-20 shooting from the field, including 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. He also handed out a game-high 10 assists in the 119-109 win, giving him back-to-back 20-10 efforts for the first time in his career. It marked just the second time in Celtics history that a player logged consecutive games with at least four 3-pointers and 10 assists. The other was Larry Bird in 1991.


Bob
MY NOTE:  No Marcus, no Jaylen, no problem.  If we had him last year for depth we would have won the Championship.  Or Malcolm, for that matter.  Think about that!  We were two weak games away from #18 and those weak games happened, in part, because we had no depth.  The Js were exhausted because we had nobody we coud trust to come off the bench and give them a rest over the entire span of the playoffs.  We had Pritchard coming off the bench to back up the back court.  Now we have White and Brogdon.  I like Pritchard but, being honest, he isn't either one of them. Last year we had Theis backing up Al and RWill.  This year we have an eye-opening improvement in Luke and we just added Moose Muscala.

Find us a wing to back up the Js, Brad, and you can take the rest of the year off.


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Brad's looking REAL hard!!

db

Congratulations to Derrick White for winning this hard-earned award!!!

Bob,

White has been on the team for a year.  He played in the playoffs.  His wife had a baby in the early rounds, so he missed some time, but he came back after and played quite well for the Green Team.  

The issue with White was that many panned the trade.  He was traded for Josh, Romeo and a 1st rounder and many thought it was a bad trade.  Some will still argue the point after a year.

Anybody want that 1st round pick back?

BTW, just for the record, I remember that Brad traded for him last year before the playoffs but it's clear he wasn't in sync with the team then.  What I should have said is "if he was assimilated last year and playing as comfortably as he is this year we would have won the Championship".


Bob


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Congrats D White. much deserved!!!

Well deserved.

D White is locked and loaded.  It seems to me that he has found his role on the team but he has proven to be way more than a role player.

He is a flat out baller!

He's going to get a chance to shine tonight with all the absences. He deserves it. Nice job, Derrick!

db

gyso wrote:Congratulations to Derrick White for winning this hard-earned award!!!

Bob,

White has been on the team for a year.  He played in the playoffs.  His wife had a baby in the early rounds, so he missed some time, but he came back after and played quite well for the Green Team.  

The issue with White was that many panned the trade.  He was traded for Josh, Romeo and a 1st rounder and many thought it was a bad trade.  Some will still argue the point after a year.

Anybody want that 1st round pick back?

gyso,

I do fess up and admit when I'm wrong... and you know I've told you before to ignore what my wife says about this.

I slammed the deal for White up and down all day long.

Given the pattern I've established, I plan to continue slamming the deal for Muscala. I hope that guarantees it works out as well.

Regards