One game in, Derrick White sure looks the part for the Boston Celtics.
A day after the team acquired the fifth-year combo guard from the San Antonio Spurs, White played a leading role in Boston's 108-102 win over the Denver Nuggets, playing crucial minutes off the bench down the stretch as the Celtics put the game away.
Here was White's full stat line from his team debut, in which he was a team-best plus-11 in the seventh straight win for the C's overall (32-25):
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15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists in 28 minutes
White, who'd started 48 of 49 games for the Spurs this season and 80 of 85 going back to last season, had no trouble coming off the bench for Boston. He played the entire fourth quarter, and was part of a group to close the game out with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III.
White's shooting was perhaps the most encouraging sign from his debut. He connected on 6 of 12 field goal attempts overall, including 3 of 7 from beyond the arc. For the season, White has shot 51.9 percent on 2-point shots but only 31.4 percent from 3-point range. White did miss his lone free throw attempt of the game.
Here were some of White's top highlights from his first game with Boston:
While was warmly welcomed by fans at TD Garden as he checked into the game for the first time, wearing a No. 9 which has changed hands many times since Rajon Rondo's departure in 2014. Could it be settling down for a while, with White under contract through the 2024-25 season?
White came into the game averaging a career-high 5.6 assists on the season. He showed off his court vision on a feed to Tatum here:
White's three made 3-point attempts were highest on the Celtics Friday night (his seven attempts were second-most after Tatum, who went 1 for 8 from deep):
For his part, Tatum seems to like his new teammate: