Derrick White ‘holding back’ the Boston Celtics, says B/R

The Boston Celtics have been on an absolute roll since the calendar year flipped to 2022, and their successful run has flowed right on through to this year’s postseason where, in four games played, they’ve gone on to sweep the star-studded Brooklyn Nets.

Now, with their divisional rivals out of the way, the C’s will be resting up as they wait to see who between the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls they’ll be facing in round two as they not only look to nab their fourth Eastern Conference Finals berth in six years but to take home the Larry O’Brien trophy by year’s end and, in turn, hoist Banner No. 18 into the rafters back at TD Garden.

Based on how they played during the second half of the regular season and through the first round of the playoffs, many believe that Boston’s chances of winning it all are pretty high.

That said, there are still a few of those out there who are convinced that believing the shamrocks can accomplish such a feat may be a bit too optimistic, and, according to the folks at Bleacher Report, they consider Derrick White to be the player that could hold them back from this ultimate goal.

Acquired at this year’s trade deadline from the San Antonio Spurs for Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, a 2022 first-round pick and a 2028 first-round pick swap, Brad Stevens brought the guard aboard to serve as a highly trusted two-way sixth man option for the Boston Celtics and, though he got off to a rather slow start to his tenure, during the final 10 games of the regular season he wound up showcasing the high-end potential he possesses in his game, boasting averages of 13.4 points and 4.2 assists on 45 percent shooting from deep whilst playing stout defense throughout.

Unfortunately, however, during their first-round series against Brooklyn, White seemingly reverted to his first 16 games of play with the franchise, as he’s averaged just 5.3 points on a putrid 8-for-23 shooting from the floor (34.8%) and1-for-11 shooting from deep (.091%) while also having the team as a whole be outscored by the Nets when the guard has been on the floor.

B/R’s Greg Swartz believes that, while the Celtics were able to play so well despite the 27-year-old’s shortcomings, should they play against, say, the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round they may not wind up being so lucky.

As Swartz stated, his “defense, scoring and playmaking abilities will be needed even more” against the Bucks and, quite frankly, we at HH couldn’t agree more.