Apr 3, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (9) high fives guard Jrue Holiday (4) before a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports / Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum stand out as the most talked-about duo on the Boston Celtics, and for good reason. The former won the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals MVP awards during Boston’s path to the 2024 title, and the latter is just the sixth player in league history to lead his team in playoff points, rebounds, and assists in a title run.
But without their two-way backcourt composed of Derrick White and Jrue Holiday, it’s difficult to believe the Celtics would be the reigning NBA champions.
Former Celtics star big man Kevin Garnett — who won a title playing with Boston in 2008 — highlighted the importance of White and Holiday to the Celtics’ success last season in a recent installment of the Ticket & The Truth podcast with co-host Paul Pierce.
“If you ain’t got a 1-2 that could be two-way, you can’t play with the Cs,” voiced Garnett. “I have been in the lab this whole summer. Do you know what really distinguish the Cs? That Holiday and D-White combination. And guess what? They switch you, and you think you got the lesser of the two?… If you ain’t ready for that, you can’t beat the C’s.”
“They set the precedent in the East. If your guard play ain’t this, you can’t play.”
Offensively, Holiday and White were two of Boston’s top playmakers in the 2024 NBA Playoffs. Holiday averaged the second-most assists per game on the team behind only Jayson Tatujm during that span (4.4), while White averaged the third-most (4.3).
Derrick White knocks down the 3!
Boston leads by 6 in Game 3 with under 3 minutes to play on ABC! pic.twitter.com/V8FgirBEIs
— NBA (@NBA) June 13, 2024
Maybe the most notable assist from either player in the playoffs came from Holiday late in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. White — who knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Celtics a six-point lead — was the beneficiary of Holiday’s left-handed dime.
Shifting to the defensive side of the ball, they served as linchpins to a defense that allowed just 100.7 points per contest during the postseason.
