BOSTON — On a chilly Wednesday night in Toronto, Derrick White realized he simply didn’t feel like himself.
That same night, the Celtics suffered what was perhaps their worst loss of the season, a 110-97 defeat at the hands of the Raptors — one of the league’s weakest teams at the time.
White had one of his worst games as a Celtic, finishing with 6 points on 2-9 shooting and a team-worst +/- of -29 in an uncharacteristically low 21 minutes on the floor.
White wasn’t used to struggling; he had been on a steep upward trajectory since Joe Mazzulla took over as coach, between his All-Star caliber 2023-24 season and the ensuing NBA championship.