‘Like a flash of lightning’: How the Celtics reacted to Derrick White’s miracle buzzer-beater

Celtics

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Joe Mazzulla react to the shot that saved the season.

  • Watch: Derrick White’s tip-in on the buzzer wins Celtics Recreation 6 in opposition to the Warmth

  • Derrick White’s putback on the buzzer wins Recreation 6 for Celtics and forces Recreation 7

Derrick White started the play because the inbounder, passing the ball to Marcus Sensible for a contested 3-point try within the closing seconds of Recreation 6.

“I used to be passing it in,” White mentioned. “[Gabe] Vincent was on me and he was up prime denying [Jayson Tatum] so I couldn’t get him the ball. They did a superb job of denying [Jaylen Brown] too. Sensible flashed, I hit him, and there actually was no one on me.”

As soon as the ball left his fingertips, he ran to the nook in case Sensible was in a position to get a go off. When he noticed Sensible elevate for the jumper, he dashed into the paint untouched and tipped the ball in with 0.2 seconds remaining.

“It felt good,” White mentioned. “All people was asking me ‘Did you get it off?’ I used to be like yeah, I feel so, nevertheless it was so shut you by no means know.”

White’s tip-in proved to be the go-ahead basket, giving the Celtics a dramatic 104-103 win. The win forces a winner-take-all Recreation 7 at TD Backyard on Memorial Day.

“Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, simply got here out of nowhere and saved the day, man. It was simply an unbelievable play,” mentioned Celtics guard Jaylen Brown.

What was on coach Joe Mazzulla’s thoughts when he noticed the shot go in?

“Nothing. Recreation 7,” Mazzulla mentioned.

The Celtics now have a possibility to turn into the primary crew in NBA historical past to beat a 3-0 deficit. Having tied the sequence at 3-3, they’re one house win away.

“[It was] religion, love, togetherness, physicality, perception, hope, all these issues mixed,” Mazzulla mentioned. “Nevertheless it begins with the locker room. These guys had a option to make, and so they selected to consider in one another.”

White selected to consider within the crew when Mazzulla began Rob Williams over him earlier than Recreation 6 of the Philadelphia sequence and for the primary three video games of this sequence.

“I’ve at all times simply been, it’s all in regards to the crew,” White mentioned final spherical. “It’s not about me. It’s been that approach all yr, so regardless of the crew wants, I’m all in.”

He was rewarded for his endurance and hustle within the closing minutes of Recreation 6 with a season-saving buzzer-beater.

“In case you’ve been round us all season, you see how shut this locker room is. We’re at all times joking round,” White mentioned. “All people is getting alongside. When instances are robust, it’s simple to sort of level the fingers. However we simply caught collectively and cared for one another and we’ve received another recreation to go.”

Jayson Tatum mentioned the shot left him puzzled at first, however he felt a giant sigh of aid realizing that the Celtics have at the least another recreation to play.

“We saved preventing,” Tatum mentioned. “We’re down, however not out. We’ve received one other likelihood. I’ll go to warfare with each man in that locker room because it exhibits. We’ve received a giant one on Monday.”

Originally posted 2023-05-28 04:36:43.