For weeks, Derrick White had been the quiet storm cloud hovering over Boston’s offense. Ice-cold. 35.3% from the field. 30% from three. The supposed No. 2 option next to Jaylen Brown looked more like a mirage than a weapon.
Then the second half against the Pistons happened—and the storm finally broke.
White detonated for 25 of his 27 points after halftime, raining dagger after dagger in the fourth quarter to flip a tight game into a thrilling 117–114 upset over the East-leading Detroit Pistons. The same White who couldn’t buy a bucket suddenly couldn’t miss, burying clutch shot after clutch shot while the TD Garden crowd lost its collective mind.
“I felt good,” White said afterward, a massive understatement wrapped in his trademark calm. “It really just feels good to get the win, honestly. But it’s good to see some go in finally.”
Joe Mazzulla never flinched during the slump. In fact, the Celtics coach sounded almost giddy about it.
“Derrick, whenever he’s not playing well, I kind of get excited,” Mazzulla admitted. “Because I know when he comes out of it, the other side of it is so much better. That’s just the trust I have in him—and that’ll never waver.”
Trust cashed in, big time.
Playing small-ball minutes, White spent the night switching onto everyone from 7-foot center Jalen Duren to All-Star guard Cade Cunningham. In the final minute, he ripped the ball from Cunningham’s hands on a game-sealing defensive stop that sent Boston home winners.
Even the opposing coach had to tip the cap—and it clearly pained him to do it.
“I mean, again… he’s a champion for a reason,” Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff said through what sounded like gritted teeth. “Guys like that understand what they need to do to help their team win, and he did it.”
Jaylen Brown put it simpler: “Derrick White made some big baskets for us—clutch. We just made plays.”
One explosive night turned a 10–8 start that had started to feel shaky into a statement: even without Jayson Tatum, even with Derrick White shooting like his hands were made of stone for three weeks, these Celtics can still beat anybody on any night.
Five games in seven days await, starting Saturday in Minnesota. The schedule is brutal.
But if the real Derrick White—the one who just torched the hottest team in the East and forced an enemy coach into a grudging coronation—is officially back?
Good luck to the rest of the league.