Reflecting on how Boston rallied from a double-digit deficit in Toronto on Wednesday night, Derrick White noted how, even when the team trailed by 17 late in the first half, he felt like the Celtics were still in the game.

It was interesting that White picked that particular number given that Boston trailed by as much as 22. But the deficit was exactly 17 when White smothered a Collin Murray-Boyles layup attempt late in the second quarter and completely flipped the momentum of Wednesday’s game.

The Celtics turned that blocked shot into a Jayson Tatum dunk at the other end of the floor as part of a run that ballooned to 16-0 and whittled Boston’s deficit to single digits before halftime.

White’s fingerprints landed all over Boston’s rally, most notably with four total blocks in his team-high 38 minutes, 23 seconds of floor time. White added 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting, and his seven assists led to 18 more points created.

White also generated a steal to go along with his four blocks. His five total STOCKS (steals + blocks) were a season high. White generating multiple stocks has basically ensured a Boston win this season. 

The Celtics are 6-0 this season when White registers multiple STOCKS. Boston’s average margin of victory in those games is 15.3 points, with four double-digit triumphs in that span. On Wednesday night, his STOCKS, ironically, helped the Celtics steal a game they had no business winning — even with Toronto missing its two top players.

Coming off the emotional win in Philadelphia, and watching Toronto knock down a franchise-record 10 first-quarter 3-pointers, the Celtics could have easily punted on Wednesday’s game. Instead, White infused the needed energy.

“D-White do a little bit of everything,” Jayson Tatum said in his walkoff interview after the rally. “One of the most complete players in this league and somebody I’m just glad to have on our team.”

Abby Chin catches up with Jayson Tatum in an exclusive 1-on-1 interview following the Boston Celtics' 98-93 win over the Toronto Raptors.

We’ve previously documented White’s slow start in this space. He impossibly blocked just one shot in Boston’s first seven games. The jump shot that defied him last season continued to balk out of the gates of the 2026-27 campaign. 

But White seems to have turned a corner during Boston’s current five-game winning streak. Shots are falling, STOCKS are (way) up. And White seems to have gotten his groove back.

Just ask the Raptors after he generated the four blocks, including two that fueled Boston’s second-quarter rally. 

“I haven’t been getting that many blocks this year,” White admitted to reporters after Wednesday’s win. “So I’m just trying to find that extra juice. I was able to get that one in the first half and kind of got going from there.”