On Wednesday evening, the Boston Celtics improved to 9-2 on the young 2023-24 NBA campaign with a road win over their Eastern Conference rivals, the Philadelphia 76ers. Making the victory more impressive was the fact that Boston was playing without two of its starters, Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown, and were still able to defeat a very solid Sixers team in their own building.

After the game, Celtics guard Derrick White got one hundred percent honest about how the Celtics were able to come together to make up for the key absences in the contest.

“I think everybody just has got to step it up a little bit,” said White, per CLNS Media Boston Sports Network. “Obviously, guys like [Porzingis and Brown], you can't really do what they do, but everybody's got to step up a little bit and I think a lot of guys stepped up today.”

White also took the time to speak on what it's like playing with a veteran leader like Al Horford, who had a big game on Wednesday.

“Al's amazing,” said White. “Everything he does out there, I'm just thankful to be his teammate, just seeing the work he puts in day in and day out, it's inspiring. You can see why he's played for 17 [seasons].”

For his part, White was tremendous for Boston against the Sixers, scoring 27 points, 14 of which came in the fourth quarter when Boston put Philadelphia away for good. Although he might not always get the spotlight, Derrick White has been an enormous part of the Celtics' success over the last two years.