The 31-year-old guard turned a sluggish night into a statement win with his all-around impact.
The Celtics didn’t make things easy on themselves Tuesday night in Utah (12-20), but they did what good teams do on the road:
They figured it out.
Boston erased a 12-point first-half deficit, took control after halftime, and closed out a 129-119 win over the Jazz to improve to 20-12 on the season, and 2-1 so far on their five-game road trip.
It wasn’t pretty early. The threes weren’t falling (29% on the night), the energy lagged at times, and Utah had stretches where they looked very comfortable. To be honest, it was starting to look like the Celtics were going to, yet again, lose to a Jazz team this season despite Utah being among the bottom-tier teams in either conference.
Then Boston flipped the switch.
The Celtics outscored the Jazz 70-55 in the second half, leaned into their defensive versatility, and let their decision-makers take over late.
This was one of those wins that doesn’t scream dominance, but quietly reinforces why Boston remains firmly in the East’s top tier.
The biggest reason for this nice comeback victory was guard Derrick White, who had arguably the most complete game of his career to closeout the calendar year 2025.
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Dec 30, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (9) takes a three point shot against Utah Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic (30) during the first half at Delta Center. (Rob Gray/Imagn Images)White started 0 for 5, but that didn’t matter.
In the second half, White took over, scoring 22 of his 27 points, attacking the paint, drawing fouls, and disrupting Utah defensively.
Then there’s the box score oddity:
27 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and a career-high 7 blocks.
No Celtic has ever done that in a single game. That includes the likes of Bill Russell and Kevin Garnett, two of the greatest defensive players in NBA history.
“I think this year his role has grown,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said of White postgame. “Tonight, when we went with Derrick, Payton, Anthony and Jaylen, and - you know, he has to guard the other team’s best players. So we got a couple on pick-and-rolls, on pull-up threes at the beginning of the game when he’s kind of roaming, and on guys that we could shift off of.
“He does a good job of coming in and knowing when to help and when not to. So just his defensive versatility.”
White impacted both ends: rim protection, playmaking, and infusing energy when Boston needed it most.
A quiet but elite two-way game from a player who has finally turned his season around from inconsistent to consistently playing a complete game.
As a team, It wasn’t flashy on Tuesday. Just effective, and that’s what matters.
Boston moves on to Sacramento (8-24) on Thursday, still very much in control of its road trip.
Dec 30, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (9) shoots against Utah Jazz forward Brice Sensabaugh (28) during the second half at Delta Center. (Rob Gray/Imagn Images)JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.