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Derrick White, Celtics blow out Suns in second half, win fourth straight: 7 takeaways
The Celtics’ defense came together and formed a wall in the third, submitting one of their stingiest showings of the season to date.
Derrick White and a short-handed Celtics team blew out a short-handed Suns team with a dominant performance in the second half on Tuesday, pulling away for a 97-81 win.
Here are the takeaways.
Derrick White stepped up in a 1A role
The Celtics won Tuesday’s game with defense and balanced offense, and Derrick White was at the heart of both.
White kept the Celtics attached in the first half, scoring 18 of his 22 points (9-for-18 shooting) in the first 24 minutes as Boston fended off a double-digit deficit in the second quarter and turned it into a four-point lead going into the break.
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White also dished out a game-high eight assists, the best of which might have been his first one — after curling around a screen by Neemias Queta, White gave every impression of a player headed straight to the rim before whipping around in mid-air and firing a pass back to Sam Hauser for a 3-pointer and the Celtics’ first points of the game.
Defensively, White was a menace with three blocks and a steal. His blocks might be the loudest aspect of his defensive game, but his positioning and anticipation are what make him so special.
One of the only real downsides of the season — with the obvious exception of Jayson Tatum’s absence — is that Derrick White would not only have been an All-Star if he shot better, but he might have made an All-NBA case for himself.
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Instead, savvy Celtics fans will have to content themselves with White’s quiet contributions, which are appreciated by essentially everyone who understands basketball and few who don’t.
The Celtics’ third-quarter defense was as good as it gets
The Celtics turned the tide in the second quarter, but they ended the game in the third, winning the period 30-11 over 12 minutes that included a 16-0 run.
The offense was fine, but the defense was otherworldly, and this play was one of the best of the Celtics’ season to date.
Suns guard Jamaree Bouyea got out in transition and challenged Baylor Scheierman, who stopped him in his tracks and gave Ron Harper Jr. more than enough time to line him up and spike his shot off the glass. The Celtics were having so much fun playing defense that Scheierman didn’t bother running back on offense right away, opting instead to skip alongside Harper for a high-five while Hugo González sprinted back to score a tough layup on the other end.
The Suns were without Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks, which is very important to note given that Jalen Green was more of a hindrance than a help (5-for-18 from the floor, -33 in the box score), and Collin Gillespie led the way for the Suns with just 15 points.
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Still, the Celtics’ defense came together and formed a wall in the third, submitting one of their stingiest showings of the season to date.
Neemias Queta was dominant
Nikola Vucevic is a puzzle-piece perfect fit for the Celtics’ offense, and his acquisition triggered a lot of speculation that he might be the new starting center.
Queta, however, isn’t ready to surrender his spot just yet. Queta was dominant on both ends on Tuesday, finishing with a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double and a staggering +29 in the box score, which felt entirely appropriate. Queta’s rim protection (two blocks, plenty of shots intimidated) is massive on a team whose guards and wings make getting to the rim nightmarish — if you finally fight your way through the thicket of Celtics defenders and make it to the paint, encountering Queta’s massive frame in between you and the rim has to be disheartening at best.
Queta’s offense, however, was eye opening on Tuesday. He has carved out a role for himself by setting crushing screens and improving massively as a roll man, but he dished out three assists including a needle-threader to a cutting Hauser, and he also pivoted into this shot, prompting a “Neem the Dream” call from NBC Sports Boston broadcaster Drew Carter.
Queta’s defense might be enough to keep him in the Celtics’ starting group — the Suns briefly made a push with Vucevic on the floor at the start of the fourth quarter, punishing the Celtics’ drop coverage. The mini-run stabilized shortly after Queta returned to the floor.
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Baylor Scheierman made winning plays
Scheierman is the latest of the Celtics’ bench brigade to earn a semi-consistent spot in the starting lineup, and it seems pretty clear what Joe Mazzulla likes about the second-year wing.
Scheierman plays hounding defense with a combination of effort, size, and strength — it’s very difficult to get your shoulder around Scheierman as a driving player because he can simply turn you back with his body.
He also hits the boards hard — Wednesday’s 11-point, 11-rebound performance was his third double-double of the season and his second in the last five games. When Scheierman grabs a rebound, he tends to push the pace back up the floor hard, which generates other opportunities.
“He knows how to dribble the ball,” Derrick White quipped. “So that is nice.”
White was trying to roast Scheierman, who was standing in his vicinity at the time, but he stumbled onto one of the things that makes this Celtics team good: Everyone can make basic basketball plays, and they do them consistently. The fact that Scheierman can dribble the ball means that seven of his eight defensive rebounds doubled as opportunities to get out in transition, or at least play fast and force mismatches.
Scheierman, to his enormous credit, learned quickly that he doesn’t need to be brilliant at the NBA level when making the right play will help win games and, as a result, keep him on the court. He just needs to be solid.
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Payton Pritchard had a rare tough game off the bench
Pritchard has been excellent since his return to the bench, and he scored 30 in the Celtics’ win over the Lakers on Wednesday, but he was just 2-for-13 with an uncharacteristic three turnovers against the Suns.
Given his ridiculous run of form recently, Pritchard’s performance wasn’t worth pointing out as a concern but rather as a curiosity.
Jordan Walsh gave Joe Mazzulla bad advice (and paid the price)
With 2:36 left in the second quarter, Walsh closed out hard to Suns guard Grayson Allen, and he appeared to hit Allen’s arm as he put up a 3-pointer.
Allen, who is known to be a bit of a flailer, executed his preferred strategy perfectly, and the officials whistled Walsh for a foul. Immediately, Walsh stormed to the bench, repeatedly telling Mazzulla and the coaching staff that he didn’t touch Allen.
Mazzulla turned to assistant coach Matt Reynolds, who watched the play and looked up skeptically, telling Mazzulla he would avoid challenging that one.
Mazzulla, however, decided to trust Walsh, although he appeared to say something to Walsh after calling for the challenge, apparently letting the young wing know that if he was wrong, he would incur Mazzulla’s wrath.
Sure enough, the Celtics did not get the call, and Mazzulla immediately called for Ron Harper Jr. to enter the game in Walsh’s place. The camera panned to a chagrined-looking Walsh chuckling about the situation with Jaylen Brown. He never re-entered the game.
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Some free advice for young players who might play for the Celtics: Don’t mess with Joe Mazzulla’s timeouts!
What’s next
The Celtics will face the Nuggets on Wednesday on the second night of a back-to-back before they head back home to take on the Nets on Friday.
For those keeping track, the Celtics are now 38-19 — just two games from the vaunted 40-before-20 milestone, and they will presumably have Jaylen Brown back for Wednesday’s game when they look to draw within one against the Nuggets.
They now hold a two-game lead over the Knicks for second place in the standings.
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