Derrick White and Joe Mazzulla Both Proved Each Other Right in the Celtics Game 3 Win

PHILADELPHIA — No matter how the flow of the game is going, there is one stat where Derrick White almost always leads the Boston Celtics. 

Plus/Minus. 

But a weird thing was happening as Game 3 wore on in Philadelphia. White’s plus/minus kept dropping deeper and deeper into the negative, even as the Celtics kept rebuilding six-to-10-point leads. The normally reliable White wasn’t just going cold, he was starting to struggle with his matchup with Tyrese Maxey. 

When he missed a layup with 4:34, a play that was sandwiched by an Andre Drummond corner three and a Kelly Oubre Jr. layup, the unthinkable presented itself. 

Maybe it was time to sit him down. 

“Anybody that ever doubts D-White, they don't really care about winning,” Joe Mazzulla said after the game. 

That lesson was hammered home immediately. The Celtics came out of the timeout called after Oubre Jr. 's layup and got a great look in the left corner by Nikola Vucevic. White, one of the league’s best offensive rebounding guards, slithered along the baseline and into position to tip the miss out to Jayson Tatum, and eventually to Jaylen Brown for a mid-range bucket. 

And then he grabbed the big one off another Vucevic miss with :38 left to play in a three-point game. The Sixers twice had opportunities to corral Boston misses and potentially tie the game on the other end, and each time, White was there to kill their hopes and dreams. 

“[He] made some big-time plays, and that’s what it comes down to. It’s experience,” Brown said. “We trust Derrick in those moments and he usually always delivers. So as the playoffs get going he’s gonna find his shot and the water will find its level. But all the stuff defensively, what he’s been doing on Maxey, chasing over all those screens, he’s had some great second contests and blocked shots, and then those rebounds at the end of the game. Just winning plays. They add up.”

The points haven't quite added up for White this series, and unfortunately that's the first place anyone looks in a box score, including the players themselves. White has struggled with his shooting all season long, and despite seemingly turning a corner recently, he has stayed cold in the playoffs. 

"Yeah, obviously it's frustrating,” he said after the game. “When I'm out there, I gotta do everything to help us win games. Everybody here has got my back, so I got a lot of love and I'm thankful for the team and staff and everybody here. They're staying with me through it all. It's my job to go out there and help us win. If it's not shooting, it's gotta be everything else."

Anybody that ever doubts D-White, they don't really care about winning

White might get frustrated, but he’s never giving up on a play, a sequence, or a game. And no matter who might give up on him as he struggles to find that shot, Joe Mazzulla will not be among them. 

“He is not defined just by shot making,” Mazzulla said. “Heading into Game 1, he defended like 54 pick-and-rolls, which is the most on the team, and he has to be able to do that for us to win. Those two rebounds were big-time rebounds, and he can impact winning in so many different ways, so I'm always going to double down on his competitive character, who he is.”

White fights for each play not only because of who he is, but who he plays for, slump or no slump. 

"I've said for years how thankful I am to just have him as a coach,” White said. “He's always kind of trusting me. He's always had my back. I go out there and I gotta do things that make him look good. Just stay with it. Keep believing. It'll be fun when [the shooting] turns."