The Celtics got away with one.

Anthony Edwards had already hit a couple of 3-pointers to help the Timberwolves stay within striking distance. The Celtics were missing shot after shot and their lead, once 19, was down to only two. With about a minute and a half to go, Jaden McDaniels ghosted a screen for Edwards, which caused enough confusion between Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday that Edwards was able to step into a clean, wide-open 3-point look.

Brian Scalabrine let out an “oh noooo” as the shot went up. It was the type of mistake that deserved an “oh no.” The script called for an “oh no” because we’ve seen how these things typically play out. The Wolves were going to hit that shot and steal a game once in Boston’s total control.

Maybe the Basketball Gods were too busy laughing with the Football Gods over what was done to the Commanders earlier in the afternoon to notice right away. By the time they caught up to what was happening, the shot had already fallen short and directly into Tatum’s hands. Their only intervention at that point was to cause a Celtics turnover and give Minnesota another chance.

And so Tatum, catching a glimpse of a teammate to his right, lofted a pass that was way too long. The play was doomed, except for one critical element.

Derrick White was involved.

“For some reason, I thought he was so much further ahead than Ant,” Tatum said, ignoring the fact the Basketball Gods had planted that optical illusion. “I guess they was neck-and-neck when they started. But he made me look good .. or made me not look bad, I guess, by going and getting it. … it was a hell of a play.”

White, of course, got to the ball first, because he almost always gets to loose balls in his vicinity first. He tapped it to himself then tap-danced along the baseline to stay in bounds, stay in control, and get the ball to Holiday, who swung it to Jaylen Brown for the dagger to hold the Timberwolves off.

On his way back to the bench, White puffed out his chest and declared “I’m fast … I know I’m fast …” over and over until everyone who needed to hear it was made aware.

“We had a discussion about who was the fastest on the team,” White said. “(I) had to put my case in there.”

He might also have the fastest brain. White’s superpower might just be his processing speed, which allows him to see what’s happening and what needs to be done quicker than others on the floor. His reaction times have allowed him to make spectacular plays that we all see. But it also helps him make equally important plays that we don’t.

Early in the first quarter, Donte DiVincenzo had broken free for what should have been an open corner 3-pointer. White recognized it immediately and closed out hard, but under control to save the play. Tatum called the lost Al Horford back into the middle of the defense, order was restored, and Brown ended up finishing the play with an incredible blocked shot.

“It’s just instincts, just flying around,” White said. “Just trying to get out there as quick as possible and not let them get a catch and shoot, and then just reading the game, seeing what the flow is, and have fun with it.”

Players talk about “having fun out there” but White really seems to sincerely enjoy those moments. When his first 3-pointer fell after five bounces and a teeter-totter that ultimately rolled in, White threw his hands to the sky in exaggerated celebration. When public address announcer Eddie Paladino made a rare mistake, calling out Jrue Holiday’s name, White shot him a confused look. But when Paladino made his correction, White nodded in an “oh okay that’s better” way.

“It’s just a fun game,” White said. “That’s what we play for, to compete at the highest level and I just try to have fun in those moments.”

There are a lot of big moments for White to have fun because he finds himself in the middle of them so often. Actually, “finds” isn’t the right word for what White is doing. “Puts” is a better one. The more you watch what White does on the floor, the more you realize that it’s not happenstance. He’s in the middle of everything because he’s good enough to put himself where he needs to be.

“Because of him, we’re constantly changing matchups, coverages, situations,” Joe Mazzulla said. “Because of his ability to see it and communicate it, I think that’s one of the great relationships that I have with him, but also with the team is we see the game kind of similar, and we’re able to communicate things differently, which you kind of have to do throughout different points of the game.”

Tatum and Brown will always be the guys who can combine for 55 points on a night like this. The ball will always find them because they’re great and the game demands that.

But White is the guy who will always find the ball, and that’s an indispensable talent for a team as focused on winning another championship as Boston is.

Well, that and having fun.

“He had nine rebounds tonight. That was surprising,” Tatum joked, sending a little shot to one of his best friends on the team. “But no, D-White is a hell of a player, a big part of our success, and he just always does the little things and does the big things as well. He has some big shots, big plays, gets blocks, and we wouldn’t be who we are without him.”