Late in the fourth quarter Monday, with the outcome against the Pistons already decided, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla had a decision to make.
He could take Derrick White out and leave him one assist short of his first career triple-double, or he could let him play until he got that 10th dime. Mazzulla settled on a compromise, giving White a minute and setting up off-ball action to get Payton Pritchard or Ski Mykhailiuk a look.
White hit Pritchard in stride, and Pritchard took care of the rest – burying a step-back 3 and sending White out in style. Twenty-two points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, spearheading the Celtics’ 119-94 victory.
“I’ve been close a lot of times, so I was like, ‘I’m going to try to get it this time,’” White said. “I’ve just got to shout out my teammates.”
While it was clear the accomplishment meant a lot to White, it also made him uncomfortable in a sense. The ultimate team guy, White was a bit out of his element as he hunted for that elusive assist.
“It was weird. I didn’t like it,” White said. “I didn’t play too good doing it. I’ve got to not do that ever again, hopefully.”
White and Pritchard pointed at each other after Pritchard drained the 3. White said that after Pritchard’s Oregon Ducks beat White’s Colorado Buffaloes in the conference championship – and a “couple dollars” were exchanged – hitting the 3-pointer was the least Pritchard could do.
The milestone was nice, but Mazzulla said it doesn’t tell the full story. White also had two steals, a chase-down block, hit six 3-pointers, eclipsed 5,000 career points, played strong defense and finished plus-17.
It was a complete team effort, but he was the catalyst alongside Jaylen Brown on a night where the Celtics were shorthanded and needed him to step up.
“The triple-double is an example of who he is as a player, but it doesn’t show how great he is on both ends of the floor,” Mazzulla said.
After the game, as he conducted a post-game interview, White managed to catch a glimpse of what was coming.
He spotted Luke Kornet and was able to avoid the bulk of the shower – though he did get a little wet.
“Luke is not the sneakiest person in the world, thankfully,” White said.
