DALLAS — Derrick White missed his first six shots Saturday against the Mavericks, including four of them from 3-point range. But his teammates always harp the same thing: Keep shooting. C’s coach Joe Mazzulla’s approach comes from empowerment, and that’s what he instills in White.
The reassuring words worked — White caught fire in the third quarter. He scored 16 of his 23 points in the frame, lifting the C’s past the Mavs in the NBA Finals rematch. But it wasn’t just White. Jrue Holiday also scored 17 points, including a 5-for-10 night from 3. Considering the Celtics’ offensive struggles recently, their starting backcourt filling it up changed the equation. Plus, the Celtics knocked down 20 3-pointers Saturday to get back to their trusty formula for wins.
“That’s why we have the team we have, is to find that balance,” Mazzulla said. “So when you can get guys to be able to do that, (Kristaps Porzingis) has 18, those guys have 20, I think it’s huge for us. It’s great to see (White and Holiday) being aggressive. It’s great to see them handle cross matches and handle things differently offensively.”
The Celtics starters led the scoring effort in the 122-107 win over the Mavs. All five starters scored at least 17 points, combining for 104 of the 122 points the C’s finished with Saturday. White and Holiday were both in offensive funks this month, so their contributions were not only much-needed but a positive sign they’ve collectively turned the corner.
Interestingly, the bench guys boasted the best plus/minus numbers on the night. Luke Kornet and Payton Pritchard were both a plus-21 while Al Horford was a plus-16. As Mazzulla said, it was a balanced effort Saturday as the Horford-Kornet double big lineup also worked well off each other in the victory.
“Every night can be somebody different,” White said. “I just think we each made big plays. Whatever the moment was, everybody just stepped up and made a play that they needed to make. We got a lot of talent and it’s nice when we’re all clicking like that.”
The Celtics have undoubtedly played imperfect basketball over the past couple months — they know that. Part of their struggles have come from cold shooting games, where their 3-point advantage occasionally disappears. But the Mavs win was more like last year as the C’s finished with 20 made 3s compared to just eight for Dallas.
Mazzulla often talks about how there are roughly 15 possessions every game that are highlighted because the Celtics need to improve their process. The C’s are still in need of game-to-game consistency as they’ve looked like a different team based on the night. But if they can get their starters back on track offensively and making 3s, it’ll go a long way to stringing together wins ahead of next month’s All-Star break.
“I just think consistency,” White said. “Last year, obviously it was a special year. But this year, everything’s kind of a little different when you play a long season and a shorter summer. Everybody’s watching all your playoff games and trying to figure different ways to slow us down. I just think it’s all part of the process.”
