The Boston Celtics suffered a tough overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night, but had to quickly put that behind them to take on the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night. Even though they were without their best player in Jayson Tatum and their sixth man Al Horford, the C's cruised to a 144-119 victory, and it was thanks in large part to Derrick White.

Early on, it looked like the Celtics were going to get rolled over by the Kings, as they fell behind by 12 just over five minutes into the game. But then White and company caught fire, and buried Sacramento in an avalanche of threes to propel them to one of their more satisfying victories of the year. On a night where Tatum was on the sidelines, it was a reminder of just how deep this team is.

Even when Tatum is playing, White has established himself as arguably the third most important player on a team that also features Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday. White's lights-out shooting, strong playmaking, and lockdown defense makes him such a complete player for Boston, and the rest of the league needs to take note, because he deserves serious All-Star consideration.

Derrick White just keeps on getting better for the Celtics

White's evolution for the Celtics has become quite profound over the past few months. During their playoff run last season, he was their best player at times, and he helped make it so that Marcus Smart was not a necessity on this team. Before Holiday became available on the trade market, White was slated to be the starting point guard for this team.

Even with White and Holiday splitting backcourt duties, the duo have emerged as arguably the best all-around backcourt in the NBA. While Holiday's offensive game hasn't really taken off yet, White has more than made up for it with his strong play, and the scary thing is that he appears to only be getting better as he plays more basketball this season.

With Tatum out against the Kings, it was White who stepped up and led the way for Boston (28 PTS, 7 AST, 2 REB, 10-13 FGM). This also included White hitting six of his nine threes, and racking up three blocks as well. It helped that Brown, Porzingis, Holiday, and Payton Pritchard all scored 20+ points too, but White was the best player on the floor for the C's in this one.

White's numbers on the season don't scream All-Star (16.5 PPG, 5.1 APG, 4 RPG, 49.2 FG%, 42.9 3P%, 1.3 SPG, 1.2 BPG), but he is easily one of the most well-rounded players in the league. White can hit shots from all over the floor, is fantastic at making smart decisions with the ball in his hand, and he is one of the more lethal perimeter players in the NBA.

The fact of the matter is that White has never really gotten his due praise for being one of the best players in the NBA. He was inexcusably left off ESPN's top-100 players list before the season, and even though he's doing things that not a lot of other guards are doing, he's going to get overlooked in the All-Star conversation. Gaudy point totals help you become an All-Star, but White's game is more about scoring 20 points every night.

The easiest way to see White's impact on a per game basis is to compare his play to what we saw from Smart during his time in Boston. Smart was a solid perimeter defender and the king of hustle plays, but he was never a true playmaker who struggled with turning the ball over, and of course, his three-point shooting was shaky at best.

White is making a case to be a better defender than Smart currently, is hitting an outrageous amount of threes, and doesn't turn the ball over nearly as much as his starting point guard predecessor. With Tatum and Brown having some struggles with turnovers this year, it would make a lot more sense to run the offense through White (or Holiday) than this team currently does.

Well-rounded glue guys like Derrick White often get overlooked in the All-Star discussion, but with each strong game, it's becoming tougher and tougher to ignore his impact on the Celtics, who are currently the best team in the NBA. There are other guys who will score more than White, or rack up more assists than him, but they don't make the same overall impact as he does. The All-Star Game is supposed to showcase the best of the best, and if that's true, White will find himself at the festivities alongside Tatum and Brown.