NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. MAVERICKS

June 16, 2024

Derrick White

Boston Celtics

Practice Day

Q. How do you celebrate Father’s Day today?

DERRICK WHITE: I don't know about celebrate, but it's been a nice, relaxing day. Spent some time with the kids. My dad is in town and spent time with him. Just try and enjoy it.

Q. What was it like coming home? What did you guys talk about? What have the conversations been like now as you get ready for this Game 5?

DERRICK WHITE: Try to move on. I mean, that's what the playoffs is all about, win or loss, you've got to move on from it. You've got to learn from it. You understand that you've got to play better than obviously Game 4. Every game gets more difficult, so we just have to be locked into our game plan.

Q. How do you think you guys will be ready for this one, and what do you think it will be like in here?

DERRICK WHITE: We're going to be ready to go. We've bounced back all year. I just think the Garden is going to be electric. It's going to be a lot of fun. I'm just looking forward to it.

Q. What can you learn from the past Celtics players to close out this kind of championship?

DERRICK WHITE: We've been lucky enough to have a lot of the past champions here, and just seeing their presence. I just think that when it gets tough, and obviously it's going to get tough. We've just got to stick together. We've got to believe in one another, and we've been doing that all year.

Q. Is it an issue of confidence?

DERRICK WHITE: For us? I would say we're a confident group. I just think you've got to stick together. There's going to be ups, and there's going to be downs. And, I mean, if someone is struggling or whatever, you have to pick them up, and that's the type of team we have.

Q. In the first three games, every guard goes to the rebound, and the last one was different. You were very aggressive going to the rebound to help, and the last game didn't seem like this. Is that a perception from me? What's the difference?

DERRICK WHITE: Obviously you just look at the rebounding numbers, that tells you a lot about what happened in that game. Just get back to five guys crashing the paint and just trying to get every rebound.