Celtics Game-Breaker: Derrick White comes up with clutch block to put Game 2 away
Every time the Boston Celtics seemed to be pulling away, the Dallas Mavericks made it a game again.
Derrick White made it stop for good.
The Mavericks made it a two-possession game with just 1:15 left in the fourth quarter during Sunday night’s Game 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals, after the Celtics missed four straight shot attempts. Mavs big man P.J. Washington streaked to the basket, thinking he was all alone for a two-handed slam to cut the deficit to three.
Not so fast. White caught back up to him and got a hand on the ball at the last possible second, and Jrue Holiday came down with the rebound. Jaylen Brown would get the lead back to seven on the ensuing possession, and the Mavs would not score again.
“That was sick,” said head coach Joe Mazzulla of White’s game-sealing block.
“Just sprinting back, trying to make a play,” White said. “Obviously they were making a little run there and whatever means necessary, just sprint back and meet him at the rim.”
Mavs head coach Jason Kidd, meanwhile, wanted a foul call on the play. White appeared to catch a piece of Washington’s hand, which is legal. If anything, Washington simply missed the dunk instead of getting blocked.
But even so, White deserves credit for his hustle and pressure on the play, and for knocking the ball out of danger to his teammate. We’re not going to nitpick a quarter-speed replay of such a bang-bang play to discredit what was a championship-caliber moment for White.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 09: Derrick White #9 of the Boston Celtics blocks the shot attempt by P.J. Washington #25 of the Dallas Mavericks during the fourth quarter in Game Two of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 09, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
“I think the thing about [White] is the confidence that he has to maybe go some possessions or a half or — because teams are guarding us differently, his frequency can be impacted because of that at times,” Mazzulla said. “But he just fights to impact the game in different ways.”
There’s no telling what would’ve happened in that final minute had that Washington shot gone down. Instead, the Celtics are up 2-0 in the series and could very well finish off their first championship since 2008 without having to come back to Boston.
Either way, it’s going to take a miracle for the Mavericks to have any real hope. Especially when the Celtics are getting such clutch performances out of guys like White and Jrue Holiday, and are winning even as Jayson Tatum continues to shoot poorly.
The Celtics are too deep, and Game 2 showed that they’re too versatile, too. They make championship plays at both ends of the court. White’s block was the latest example.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
