Derrick White talks playoffs shooting slump after Game 2 Sixers loss

Story by

Story by
Derrick White talks playoffs shooting slump after Game 2 Sixers loss

Souichi Terada · MassLive

Wed, Apr 22, 2026 ·

3 min read

About Our Ads

BOSTON — While Derrick White has had shooting success during his time with the Celtics , his cold-shooting regular season has followed him into the playoffs. White has struggled knocking down 3-pointers early in Boston's playoff run. It's also important to note it's a small sample size of just two games so far.

White shot 2-for-10 on 3s in the Celtics' Game 2 loss to the 76ers on Tuesday at TD Garden. That follows a 2-for-7 showing from behind the arc in Game 1, a blowout Celtics win over the Sixers . White spoke about his shooting slump and what it takes to break out of it following the Celtics' film session Wednesday at the Auerbach Center.

"You gotta have that confidence the next one's going to go in and gotta have that belief," White said. "I think if you get a good look or if it's an open look, you're hurting the team if you don't take it. If you're out there and you get a good look, you gotta take it and knock it down."

It was a tough regular-season showing when it came to White's efficiency. He hit 32.7% of his 3-pointers on 8.3 attempts per game, shooting 39.4% overall. Part of that was White took on more of the offensive load with Jayson Tatum sidelined for the entire year, plus the Celtics went through roster changes.

White has proven he can be a knockdown shooter for the Celtics. He enjoyed a stellar, confident 2024-25 campaign, sinking 38.4% of his 9.1 3-point attempts per game. White broke a C's franchise record with 265 3-pointers made in a single season, showing his transformation as a shooter.

"Just trying to take what's given, honestly, spacing the space on the floor and you get a shot and you got to take it," White said. "And honestly, I'd just say I've got to play better. And so that's just all I'm focused on for Game 3."

Of course, White's value isn't limited to his scoring and shooting. White is well-respected around the league because of how much havoc he creates on the defensive end. White also averaged 5.4 assists per game in the regular season, regularly setting up his teammates. There's a lot more to impacting the game than just making shots.

But White's shooting hasn't been at his levels compared to past seasons. White wasn't known as much of a shooter when the Celtics acquired him back at the 2022 trade deadline. But he worked on that part of his game behind the scenes over the years.

Even though the Celtics lost Game 2 to the 76ers, there's no reason to panic on the Celtics' side. They're still heavy favorites even with the series tied at 1-1. The first round goes to Philadelphia for the next two games, but this current Celtics core has won droves of road playoff games.

"A lot of us have kind of been in a situation like this before and it's something that we've done in the past," White said. "And obviously it's a little different this year, a different team. But just got a lot of confidence in everybody that we'll be ready to go for Game 3."

More Celtics content