Miami Heat Again Making Derrick White Looking Like A Boston Celtics Legend

Shandel Richardson | May 1, 2024

Michael Laughlin-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Heat have somehow made Boston Celtics guard Derrick White look like Larry Bird during this postseason.

For a third straight game, White has been the best Celtics player. He was tied for the team-high with 17 points at halftime, helping them to a 68-46 lead Wednesday night.

Here's what Inside The Heat wrote about White entering Game 5:

Boston Celtics Derrick White has been a problem for the Miami Heat in each of the past two postseasons.

He led the Celtics to a 3-1 series lead over the Miami Heat Tuesday by scoring a career-high 38 points in a 102-88 victory. White made eight 3-pointers.

“Derrick White was very good, obviously,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It was the threes that got them going ... In those moments during the course of the game, he was just very efficient, very good. Anytime there was the slightest momentum change on our part, he hit a big basket." 

White did most of his damage early on. He had four three-pointers and 16 points in just the first quarter to set the tone. He then made back-to-back triples in the middle of a second quarter that lacked much offensive action. White had 22 points by halftime. Bam Adebayo was the only Heat player with more points in the game.

White didn’t shine on just offense. He also tied a personal playoff-high with three blocks. His third block of the night helped the Celtics slow down a late fourth-quarter push from the Heat.

“He was taking what the defense gave him, and he was being aggressive, he was attacking,” Al Horford said about White. “It was beautiful to see. With him, I was just as impressed on the defensive end." 

White, who is one of three Celtics players averaging more than 20 points in the series, has been perhaps the best player in the series. He is averaging 21.8 points through the first four games, a big jump from his 15.2 point