BSJ Game Report: Celtics 102, Heat 88 - White's big night overshadowed by Porzingis injury

- Derrick White: A monster performance for him on a night Boston needed someone to step up offensively. Some of it was hot shooting, and some of it was smart basketball. 

“I just think that he just continues to get better, but also I feel like he's getting more comfortable,” Al Horford said. “He was being aggressive. He was attacking. It was beautiful to see. With him, I was just as impressed on the defensive end. His commitment to defense and making sure that he's getting out there and contesting shots and doing certain things. That's what makes Derrick so special."

He finished with a career-high 38.

- Miami’s awful offense: The Celtics defense had its moments, but Miami’s offense is just putrid. The only chance they have is bad shooters catching fire. They got a little of that in the fourth quarter, but if they're not hitting an ungodly amount of shots, they are just bad. 

TURNING POINT 

Boston’s 8-2 run in the third, which included two dunks from White and a transition dunk from Jaylen Brown opened Boston’s biggest lead of the night to that point (23).  

THINGS I LIKED

- Aggressive Derrick White: He’s the ultimate gap-filler. If other guys have it going, he can facilitate and do other things. If the offense is getting bogged down elsewhere, he can score in bunches. He has been empowered to play his game and take his shots, and he’s playing the best ball of his life.

“I think it starts with Joe (Mazzulla). Ever since he took over he’s just giving me the most confidence,” White said. “I can talk to him, he can talk to me. That relationship is getting better and better each day and it’s amazing to play for him and I love it. Obviously the teammates, guys are such great players on the team but they allow me to do what I do and believe in me, and I think that’s big.”

White is such an incredible basketball player. The Josh Richardson/Romeo Langford for White deal is quickly climbing the ladder of Celtics trade heists. It’ll never be the biggest one, but it’s sneaking into the team picture like Paul Pierce at the Celtics practice facility.

- Al Horford: The way he ripped the refs for what happened to Tatum alone gets him his appreciation.

- The defensive game plan: I’m not going to say Boston’s defense was overly great, though it was great in stretches. But running the Heat off the line and letting Bam Adebayo try to beat them with 2-point mid-range shots is an easy way to limit the Miami attack. I’ll take Adeabayo’s 25 points on 22 shots every game and be comfortable that the Heat won’t score 100. 

- The blowout: Boston got less-than-expected performances from Tatum and Brown. Porzingis left before the half. The bench only gave them nine points. And still, Boston led by 28 at one point. That's pretty impressive to me.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- The Porzingis injury: I'm always so afraid of what calf injuries can become. The potential for something more serious is always lurking around a calf strain, so I'm all for a cautious approach here. 

- The fourth quarter: Boston just doesn’t miss an opportunity to relax in a game. Miami never truly threatened, but it did get a little uncomfortable. The Celtics have to figure out that whenever they play slow and try grind out a fourth quarter, they lose the lead. 

- The Tatum/Adebayo thing: I don’t know what to call it, but the whole thing was stupid. Tatum took a shot after the dead ball, Adebayo slid under him because dead-ball shots have to be challenged, and it nearly cost Boston Tatum because he landed on Adebayo’s foot. The whole thing was ridiculous. 

HIGHLIGHTS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Derrick White has to finish his career in Boston.

At least the productive parts of his career. I don’t want to spend much time on offseason stuff here because now’s not the time for it, but White is just too damn good to let walk away. He’s 29, so maybe the productive part of his career is one more long contract, but he needs to stick around. 

What’s tough for San Antonio is that White is exactly the kind of player they need next to Victor Wembanyama. They might not have gotten Wemby had they not traded White away, but imagine that pairing right now?

- We should be at critical mass for contesting post-whistle shots. 

Between the league telling Mazzulla to quit it with coaches challenging players to this Adebayo/Tatum thing, I’m very much ready to be done with the post-shot shenanigans. So is Horford, who leaned into the refs hard after the play and earned a tech for his troubles.

“I know that we get to playing around and trying to contest shots after fouls and things like that, but there's levels to contest, and if a guy shooting and the play is over with, just kind of let him be,” Horford said. “I know he's trying to compete over there, but I was just mad. I don't want to see any of my guys get hurt or anything like that. Thankfully, JT is fine but it could have been bad."

I understand being competitive. I get the gamesmanship. What happened in this game was ridiculous. 

Next up: Game 5 is back in Boston on Wednesday night at 7:30