‘If I was going to fail, I was going to do it aggressively,’ said Derrick White of his mindset going into Game 4 vs. Heat

Getting back to what makes him great helped the new dad help his team.

The Boston Celtics traded for Derrick White to push their team closer to contending for a title, and while it isn’t always in a flashy way, to date he has largely succeeded in regard. But sometimes his team needs more from him, such as in this series against the Miami Heat in the 2022 East finals and particularly in Game 4 with the team down starting point guard Marcus Smart.

“I said this morning if I was going to fail, I was going to do it aggressively, and just try to get back to how I play,” offered White after Boston’s 102-82 blowout of Miami Monday. Acknowledging that he had an uphill battle getting shoehorned into a new system at the trade deadline, the former San Antonio Spur shared that “the team has done a great job of being like ‘Just be you.'”

“(Marcus) Smart said it to me this morning, Rob (Williams III) said I just have to do that, so that makes it a lot easier.”

While his counting stats may not scream success at the casual fans’ sensibilities, his play on the court connects the dots for the eye test.

And more importantly, got Boston the win when it counted most.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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