Derrick White has game-changing blocked shot in Celtics' Game 2 win vs. Mavericks
BOSTON — The Boston Celtics’ late-game lead slipped from 14 points to five points in two minutes, 19 seconds.
The Dallas Mavericks were on the verge of making it a three-point game when P.J. Washington went up for a dunk with 50.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
That’s when Celtics guard Derrick White used the skills that made him an All-Defensive selection and blocked Washington’s dunk, leading to a Jaylen Brown layup, making it 105-98, which was the final score of Boston’s Game 2 victory.
“That was sick,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said of White’s chase-down block that helped ensure a 2-0 series for Boston.
It also looked like Jaylen Brown had a hand in the block but White received credit for it in the box score.
Said White: “Just sprinting back, trying to make a play. Obviously they were making a little run there and whatever means necessary, just sprint back and meet him at the rim.”
White had another strong game for the Celtics with 18 points, five rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks.
He is one of the best shot-block guards in the NBA and averaged 1.2 blocks, second-best in the league among guards behind Toronto’s Scottie Barnes during the regular season, and he’s No. 2 in the playoffs at 1.3 blocks per game – the only guard still playing with more than a block per game.
“Not (being) afraid to get dunked on allows me to get some that maybe some other people wouldn't have gotten,” White said. “So, just trying to make a play, just believing in my abilities and what I can do.”
Mavs coach Jason Kidd saw a foul, and Brown has his hand on Washington's back as the play developed at the rim. “It looked like a foul. But it wasn't called. So it wasn't a foul.”