標籤: completes

The Boston Celtics, even before Jayson Tatum’s long absence due to an Achilles rupture, were already a formidable team to contend with, thanks to the consistent two-way excellence of both Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. White’s talent may not match the box score, but he is the quintessential winning player. He does everything the Celtics need to play winning basketball, and his impact was evident once again on Monday night.

It may have been Brown who scored 41 points on 10-20 shooting from the field and 19-21 from the charity stripe against the Phoenix Suns, but it was White who held the team together on the defensive end. He helped slow down Jalen Green by holding him to 21 points on 8-20 shooting from the field, and he was the defensive star of their 120-112 win over the Suns.

White refilled the stat sheet, tallying one steal and one block each. In doing so, the Celtics guard now has 75 steals along with 93 blocks on the season – becoming the first player in franchise history to record such defensive numbers during a season since Kevin Garnett accomplished the feat during the championship-winning 2007-08 campaign, according to ESPN Insights on X (formerly Twitter).

Celtics star Derrick White is a coach’s dream

White is respected among coaches and analytics fans, as he does everything a team wants from a guard who plays heavy minutes. He can defend big players, he can attack them from beyond the arc, and he’s unselfish at both ends of the court, willing to sacrifice his body for the right play.

The Celtics star also received major praise from Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson, who said he is a top-five player in the NBA. And considering how impactful that can be, there really is an argument to be made for it.

The Los Angeles Clippers were left for dead in November. After a disappointing 5–20 start to the season, most pundits were examining mock drafts rather than playoff standings. But after Wednesday night’s 153-128 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, this team did something no one in NBA history has done.

According to NBA insider Brett Siegel, with the win, the Clippers became the first team in league history to go above the .500 mark after falling at least 15 games below .500 in the same season. Sitting at 35-34, Los Angeles has completed a comeback that seemed statistically impossible four months ago.

The Intuit Dome was rocking as Kawhi Leonard turned in one of the most accomplished pieces of his historic career. Leonard torched the Timberwolves for 45 points on a ridiculous 17-of-21 shooting from the field. They didn’t just beat Minnesota; He destroyed them, scoring at will from mid-range and the perimeter.

However, it was not just a one-man show. Benedict Mathurin operated the offense like a surgeon, scoring 22 points and 3 assists. The Clippers’ offense looked like a well-oiled machine, shooting a whopping 63 percent from the floor as a team. Los Angeles dominated every aspect of the game, outshooting Minnesota 60–44 in the paint and turning 10 Timberwolves turnovers into 14 points.

The Timberwolves, led by Anthony Edwards’ 36 points, could not keep up with the Clippers’ historic heater. Minnesota struggled to find stops as the Clippers dropped more than 40 points in three of four quarters.

From a 15-game losing streak to a winning record, the Clippers have officially flipped the script for the 2025-26 season. If they keep playing like this, “phenomenal” could be the beginning of their story.