Derrick White felt a little guilty about chasing his first career triple-double

BOSTON -- Derrick White embodies everything you want in a player. The Celtics guard is as unselfish as they come and always puts the team first ahead of his own individual accolades and accomplishments. 

But on Monday night, White admittingly got a bit selfish. And he didn't like it one bit.

White did a bit of stat-padding during Boston's 119-94 blowout win over the Detroit Pistons at TD Garden. Sitting one assist shy of his first career triple-double midway through the fourth quarter, White did everything he could to make sure the ball found an open shooter. His teammates followed suit, trying to sink a bucket and get White his 10th dime of the evening.

It led to some turnovers by White, who clearly didn't look comfortable hunting for that assist. When Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla called a timeout with 6:38 left and his team up by 25 points, White thought his night was coming to an end and his quest for a triple-double was over.

But Mazzulla had other plans. He told White that he had a minute to get that final assist before he'd take a seat on the bench. The Celtics drew up a play, and 13 seconds later, Payton Pritchard came off a Svi Mykhailiuk, took a feed from White, and drained a 3-pointer to the elation of everyone in the building. (Minus the Pistons, of course.)

White pointed to Pritchard after the bucket and pumped his fist, thanking his teammate for helping him reach a career milestone. He checked out a few minutes later with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists for the first triple-double of his eight-year career.

While he was happy with the accomplishment, chasing stats late in a game didn't feel right for White.

"It was weird," he said of that extremely uncharacteristic two-minute stretch. "I didn't like it, and I didn't play too well doing it. So I have to not do that ever again, hopefully."

The Celtics pride themselves on playing the right way and respecting their opponents, and White felt funny going after personal stats during a blowout win over a lesser opponent. But with Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and Sam Hauser all sidelined, White had an expanded role and a lot more scoring chances on Monday night. And with the Celtics well on their way to another lopsided win, the game gave White his best chance at getting that elusive triple double. Even his teammates were pushing for it as he got closer and closer.

"I'm not usually the one that tries to chase stats or whatnot, but I seen that I was two [assists] away. That's probably why I had those three turnovers there at the end, but I mean, I've been close a lot of times, so I was like, I'm going to try and get it this time," said White. "Just have to shoutout to my teammates."

White scored his 22 points off 8-for-20 shooting, hitting six of his 10 shots from downtown. He also scored his 5,000th career point on a three early in the fourth quarter.