The Boston Celtics entered Friday night’s NBA Cup game against the Chicago Bulls fully healthy, but Derrick White made an early departure.
White suffered a right foot injury with 8:08 left in the third quarter. Boston overcame White’s absence and escaped with a 138-129 victory, which gave the Celtics a plus-23 point differential and a chance at clinching a spot in the NBA Cup’s knockout round in Las Vegas.
“He said he was gonna be OK but I don’t know how he’s doing,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “So I gave him a high five back there, I asked him how he was doing. He said he would be fine but I don’t know other than that yet.”
White logged 24 minutes, scoring 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field with five rebounds, four assists and a steal. The 30-year-old was on pace for a solid night, as he knocked down four 3-pointers and gave the Celtics everything needed to overcome a lowly Bulls team playing with a chip on its shoulder. Boston struggled to break away from a offensive back-and-forth with Chicago but White’s early trip to the locker room, oddly enough, helped the Celtics.
Boston listed White as questionable for Sunday night’s marquee matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, joining Kristaps Porzingis (injury management), Jrue Holiday (right adductor tightness) and Al Horford (left big toe sprain) on the list of maybes.
