There is a saying in the NBA that spurs must be excellent, whether it is Spurs players or coaches, basically represent the highest level of professional basketball, because the Spurs pour a lot of effort into each player. At this year's trade deadline, the Celtics spent a first-round pick, a first-round swap and Richardson and Langford to Spurs' White, which is not a small price, but from the result, the Green Army earned.
In today's game, White came off the bench, played a full 31.5 minutes, got 11 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals, and although he shot 1 of 5 from three-point range, the score was not where White affected the game, and his plus-minus was the team's highest +22. That's what characterizes White, whose shooting ability isn't outstanding at the guard, and the Green Army actually had a strong backup guard Schroeder in the first half of the season, and in order to get White, they sent the little black who averaged 14.4 points and 4.2 assists per game to the Rockets.
In fact, White currently averages only 11.2 points and 3.3 assists per game, which is a cut lower than Schroeder in terms of statistics, but he is stronger than Schroeder in defense and organization, and he has changed the Green Army's defensive system. In the Spurs' four and a half seasons, White has had a very high tactical literacy and efficiency of needles, and after coming to the Celtics, White brought positive offensive running and more no-ball cover, which are effects that the data cannot reflect, and the Green Army can reduce singles and add more tactics. In fact, the gap between White and Schroeder can be seen from the value of the transaction, the Rockets exchanged Tys as the main body to Schroeder, and the Green Army sent the first-round pick and Richardson in order to get White.
The Celtics played badly in the first half of the season, losing Fournier and Kemba Walker in the offseason, but only reinforcing Horford, Schroeder and Richardson, but Smart and Brown were in great shape, so the Greens were at one point in the bottom of the East. Fortunately, all this changed immediately, Tatum began to stabilize in front of the All-Star, and the Green Army's record improved day by day, and with the arrival of White, they finally made up the last piece of the puzzle. Before White was traded, the Greens had already won six straight, and White came in to become an important rotation averaging 26 minutes per game, but it did not affect the chemistry of the Greens, and White Celtics had nine wins in the first 11 games of his career.
Now that the Green Army has won 40 wins and jumped to fifth place in the East, they are only 1.5 wins away from third place, and there is a set of statistics that best reflects their status, and in the last 20 games, the Celtics have won 17 wins and 3 losses. Among them, the Green Army has won 12 consecutive games against the top ten teams in the East and West, because the three games they lost were the Pistons, Pacers and Trail Blazers of the "Fish Belly" team, and the Celtics can be said to be the first team in the NBA to rob the rich and the poor.
The Green Army's next schedule is not difficult, with only the Lone Rangers, Warriors, Nuggets, Jazz, Heat, Bulls and Bucks with more than 40 wins, and as long as they can win the opponents in the East, they are likely to hit the upper half of the East. Now the Green Army can think about the progress of the playoffs, they have top stars like Tatum, and Brown, who is willing to be green leaves, and the top playoff rotations smart, White and Lowe, the Celtics will not be afraid of any team.