NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 7, 2022

Derrick White

Boston Celtics

Practice Day

Q. You guys have a lot of ball handlers on this team, and it seems like it's more of a free-flowing offense. When you guys get into some ball-handling issues, turnovers, things like that, what are some things you try to go to to slow the offense down, settle things down, especially you as a point guard?

DERRICK WHITE: I think the nice thing is that we can have multiple people bring it up, multiple people initiate the offense. But definitely at times we need to just slow it down and get into one of the sets, something that we can get a good look in every time, that we're comfortable in and confident in. Myself, Smart, just understanding the pace and the flow of the game, and when we need to really get a great look.

Q. Seemed like they closed down the driving lanes there. When you guys drive you're seeing multiple bodies, multiple arms. What was the difference between Game 1 and Game 2 in that regard? Was it you guys just not making the right decisions as much in Game 2? Was their defense better as far as helping and recovering? What did you see as the difference in those two games offensively?

DERRICK WHITE: Probably a little bit of both. I mean, they definitely upped their physicality, their attention to detail and everything. That's what they do a great job of is helping each other, rotating off of that.

It's just up to us to make the right decisions when we drive, know that they're going to come over and help and make the right play and make the extra pass after that. We've done that in the past, and we'll do it again.

Q. There's always a game of adjustments whether you win or lose. Not only did they do some different things X's and O's but there was a mental adjustment on their part, being more locked in in that regard. What's the key to you being a little bit sharper mentally? Because it seemed like there were more moments than usual where you guys were getting frustrated, whether it was plays not getting called, plays getting called. What's the key to recalibrating your mental approach to Game 3?

DERRICK WHITE: Yeah, just trying to control what we can control. There's a lot of things that go on during the game that's kind of out of our control. Believing in the man next to you and just kind of sticking with the team, not worry about those outside factors. I think at times in the last game we kind of lost it, but it's good to know that we'll get it back and try to lock in on what we're trying to do.

Q. You guys have occasionally had some issues at home, yet you've got the Garden crowd tomorrow night. It's going to be loud and certainly Golden State has had its issues on the road in the Playoffs. How are you feeling about being home and do you think you guys can really bring it?

DERRICK WHITE: Yeah, I am looking forward to it. It's amazing playing here since I got traded and throughout this whole postseason. I already know that the Boston fans are going to bring it up a notch and maybe a couple more notches in the Playoffs, in the Finals. I'm looking forward to it, and I know everybody else loves playing in front of this crowd.

Q. A little bit of a general question, but what about Jaylen Brown has impressed you the most since you've become his teammate full time?

DERRICK WHITE: Just his ability. Some of the things you just see in practice, when he's just messing around or just doing -- it's impressive. It's fun to watch. Just his day-to-day work ethic, the things he works on, how he studies the game, how he makes adjustments throughout the series and throughout the season. It's been cool just to see up close and personal all the little things he does which makes him so special.

Q. When you came here, I think like most players whenever they're traded, there's certain expectations you have as far as fitting in, teammates, all that. How has the reality of the situation that you walked in differed from what you expected it to be?

DERRICK WHITE: It kind of happened so quick. I got traded, so my mind is going a million different ways. Then I'm on a flight that night, and I play the next day. It kind of happened so quick, so I didn't really have time to process it. But we have a great group of guys, great coaching staff, so they really welcomed me and just told me to be me. That's really helped me out through this whole process.

I didn't have much expectation. It happened so quick, but I was super excited to get here and excited for what this team's potential could be.