It’s pretty clear that when the Celtics play to their ceiling, they are a special basketball team. The problem is that far too often in these playoffs, they have been closer to their floor, especially on the offensive end, which played a huge factor in their Game 5 collapse at home on Tuesday night, when they lost to the Sixers, 113-97. Unfortunately, a big part of that stems from Derrick White and his struggles.
What started as a shooting slump has morphed into something much worse, and the result is a player who looks to be completely lacking confidence and actively hurting Boston on one end of the floor. He made a couple of baskets going to the rim in the first half, and they made an effort to get him going early.
But as the game went on, and White missed a few threes, he became completely invisible, looking like a liability every time he touched the ball. By the end of the game, it seemed like Philly was begging him to shoot the ball, and he looked like he didn’t want any part of even having the ball.
It felt like the Cs were playing 4-on-5 when they had the ball in the fourth quarter, and while everyone on the floor deserves blame, it’s impossible not to notice the total absence of White, normally one of the most reliable crunch time players in the league recently.
Derrick White vs. Philadelphia 76ers 4/28/2026
— NBA Shooting Audit (@NBAShotAudit) April 29, 2026
6 PTS | 2-8 FG | L 97-113 pic.twitter.com/IVq3RGKPMg
Boston can’t win a title with this version of White
By his standards, White has struggled with his shot all season long, but you figured water would find its level, especially when Jayson Tatum returned, and he was able to scale his role back. But through five playoff games, things have only gotten worse. He’s a 36% career 3-point shooter, but that jumps to over 38% in the playoffs. In the championship run, he was over 40% on more than eight attempts per game.
That’s the D-White we’re used to seeing, and it’s the one that the Celtics badly need for their offense to truly hum. But it’s far from the one they’re getting. In this series, White has just 41 points in 5 games, making a measly 7 out of 33 from distance, and frankly, it feels even worse than that.
He has completely lost his mojo, and everybody knows it. The only solution is for him to play his way out of this hole, and quickly. The Cs don’t have a reliable third scorer outside of the Jays right now, and while Payton Pritchard can give them a boost off the bench, it needs to be White knocking down his open looks, getting to the basket, and making timely plays.
If they’re lucky, they may be able to survive the first round and the 76ers without Derrick finding his rhythm, but the aspirations for this team are much higher than that. If the Celtics want to have any realistic chance of making it out of the East and then winning a title against a juggernaut like the Thunder or Spurs, they need the real Derrick White to show up and return to form.