The Boston Celtics have gotten a boost over the weekend with the return of Jayson Tatum from an Achilles injury that kept him out of action for 10 months. The Celtics rolled to victories over the Dallas Mavericks and the Cleveland Cavaliers as Tatum shook off the rust and made key contributions in both games. However, Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson was most impressed with Celtics guard Derrick White, and he referred to him as a “top-5 player” in the NBA.
Most of the attention on the Celtics goes to Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but they have been getting contributions from multiple players on their deep roster. White is clearly the most important player outside Tatum and Brown, and he has gotten the respect of Atkinson.
“Derrick White, he’s a top 5 player in this league,” Atkinson said, per Brian Robb of MassLive. “I know no one says that in the standard media, but analytically, you look at all the advanced stuff, he’s top 5 player in the league, superstar. Jaylen [Brown] is obviously having a great year. [Neemias] Queta is analytically one of the top 30, probably. They have a lot of talent even without Jayson.”
The Celtics picked up a 109-98 triumph on the road over the Cavs in Sunday's game. They dominated from the start, leading by nine points after the first quarter and 20 at the half. Brown and Tatum had 23 and 20 points, respectively. While White did not have a big offensive game, he contributed 7 rebounds and 5 assists in addition to his 6 points.
The Celtics have won 9 of their last 11 games and they play at San Antonio Tuesday. They are in second place in the Eastern Conference with a 43-21 record, 3.0 games behind the Detroit Pistons.
