In between championship celebrations and Olympic basketball games, Derrick White spent a lot of time in a dentist’s chair this summer, repairing the front teeth he mangled during Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Nightmares of more dental work had to have flashed through the Celtics guard’s mind Thursday night.
A shot to the jaw from Philadephia’s Kelly Oubre Jr. sent White scurrying to the locker room with a towel on his face. Replays of the collision, which occurred midway through the second quarter, clearly showed a tooth eject from White’s mouth and bounce on the green-painted parquet.
But that mandible mishap didn’t end White’s night. Fortunately, the lost tooth was a temporary one he had installed after the Finals – and had procrastinated replacing. Celtics staffers helped glue his four-tooth “bridge” back together, popped it onto his gum and sent him on his way.
White returned for the second half, wearing a mouthguard that he could not remove, and helped guide the seriously shorthanded Celtics to a 123-105 victory over the woebegone 76ers at TD Garden.
“I was supposed to go in probably two weeks ago, but I kept pushing it off, to get my permanent (teeth),” White said, before quickly adding: “But I’m going to go tomorrow.”
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 35 points, seven rebounds, two assists and three steals, and three Boston bench players scored in double figures. Those included first-round rookie Baylor Scheierman, who scored more points in the win (15) than he had in his entire NBA career before Thursday.
“He was great on both ends of the floor,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I thought he passed up a couple early shots when he was open, and then he got them in rhythm, and he was able to make a couple. But another guy that regardless of how well he shoots, he’ll be defined by the other stuff that he does — the rebounding, the defense, the loose ball that he cased down, the charge that he took and the crashing. So I just thought he played a well-rounded game.”
Payton Pritchard scored 19 off the bench to go along with six assists, four rebounds and two steals.
Boston was playing without Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Sam Hauser, who all sat out due to injury or, in Porzingis’ case, illness. All five watched at least part of the game from the Celtics’ bench. Philly was missing its ill-fated Big Three of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George, plus an assortment of injured role players.
The Celtics’ two available starters unsurprisingly carried Boston’s offense in the first quarter. White picked up where he left off in Wednesday night’s history-making win over Portland by sinking his first two 3-pointers as part of a 10-point quarter. Tatum also made threes in the first but did most of his work inside, starting a perfect 5-for-5 on drives to the rim. He played the entire opening frame and scored 18 points while facing little resistance from Philadelphia’s undermanned defense.
Luke Kornet also went wire-to-wire in the first, and though his early stat line was unremarkable, he set up both of Tatum’s 3-pointers with his screening ability, which Mazzulla lauded during his pregame news conference.
Despite missing half of their core rotation, the Celtics still had a clear talent advantage over the similarly shorthanded Sixers. That quickly was evident as Boston built a 20-point first-half lead and entered halftime up 64-46.
The slew of DNPs freed up minutes for several deep reserves. Two-way player Drew Peterson started for the first time in his NBA career, and five other Celtics saw more playing time than they typically do when the Celtics are at full strength.
The two who made the most of their expanded opportunities: Torrey Craig and Scheierman.
Craig, who joined the Celtics after last month’s NBA trade deadline, crashed the boards to great effect, registering four offensive rebounds and a putback dunk. The veteran wing also made both of his 3-point attempts – a vital skill if he wants Mazzulla to trust him with more regular minutes – and finished with 12 points in 20 minutes. Craig was 0-for-6 from three over his previous four appearances.
“I just thought his physicality, we felt that on both ends of the floor,” Mazzulla said. “But those plays are huge. We’re playing against a team here, we’ve got to generate momentum and extra possessions. So he’s been great in that so far.”
When the second half began, Mazzulla sent out Craig in place of Neemias Queta, who struggled with his shooting around the basket and drew the ire of his head coach during one second-quarter timeout. Queta later returned and threw down alley-oop dunks on back-to-back possessions early in the fourth quarter. He and Kornet combined for 16 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end, and six blocks, with Kornet finishing as a team-best plus-26.
White, back from his mid-game pit stop, assisted on both Queta lobs and another to Kornet two minutes later before being shut down for the night with Boston up big.
“I was surprised he came back,” said Tatum, who sat out the entire fourth quarter. “But (he’s a) competitor. He hates not to play, always wants to be out there. So I’m glad he’s doing all right.”
Scheierman, meanwhile, delivered by far the most impactful performance of his young NBA career. The Creighton product went 5-for-10 from the field and 3-for-7 from three, and he fired up Boston’s bench with several impressive hustle plays, including a drawn charge against burly Sixers forward Guerschon Yabusele and a steal that led to free-throw attempts at the other end.
After Scheierman sprinted the length of the court to deny Philadelphia’s Adem Bona a fast-break layup, his teammates all leaped up to show their approval.
“Just a big-time effort,” White said. “Kind of surprised how fast he was running, honestly. And then the slide. It was just a great play, great hustle. He could easily just let him get a dunk, but just doing everything he needs to do. He had a big game today, took advantage of his opportunity. So it’s good to see, and I was happy for him.”
The rookie also halted a third-quarter Sixers rally when he drilled a three in front of the Sixers’ bench, which he celebrated by blowing a kiss to his opponents. Up 12 at the time, the Celtics quickly upped their lead to 18 and were never threatened in the fourth quarter, allowing Mazzulla to empty what was left of his bench with more than four minutes remaining.
“Every time you shoot by the bench, they’re always saying ‘Hell nah,’” Scheirman said. “So I had to turn around and give them a little kiss.”
JD Davison, Xavier Tillman and new two-way signee Miles Norris all saw garbage-time action for Boston, which will hope to have more of its regulars available when it hosts the LeBron James, Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers in a marquee Saturday night showdown.
White plans to be patched up and ready to go in time for that matchup.
“Shoutout Boston Dental,” he said. “I’ll see y’all tomorrow.”
Originally Published: March 6, 2025 at 9:53 PM EST
