Derrick White to see ear specialist, remained in Milwaukee

According to Jared Greenberg of NBATV, Derrick White did not board the Boston Celtics flight last night and has instead remained in Milwaukee to see an ear specialist this morning. During the second quarter of Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, White collided with an opposing player whilst diving for a loose ball, and it would seem Boston is being cautious with their veteran guard.

Despite the collision, White participated throughout the remainder of the game, impressing with both his scoring and playmaking ability and helping the short-handed Celtics force their conference rivals into overtime before Boston eventually came up short.

White’s injury couldn’t come at a worse time for the Celtics, as they are already short on manpower, having played against Milwaukee without Jaylen Brown (facial fracture), Jayson Tatum (non-COVID illness), Marcus Smart (ankle sprain), and Al Horford (back-to-backs).

The Celtics are set to play the Detroit Pistons later today in what will be the second game of a back-to-back and could potentially be without White for the contest. At the time of writing, the Celtics' have not yet released their injury report for the game against Detroit, but it’s likely that they will remain undermanned for what will be their final game before the All-Star break.

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

White has been fantastic for the Celtics in the opening two weeks of February, averaging 22.6 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per game on 50/43.6/90 shooting splits. Should White be unavailable to participate in Wednesday’s game against Detroit, Malcolm Brogdon will likely take his place within the starting lineup, with Payton Pritchard assuming more ball-handling duties off the bench, while JD Davison could be called upon to add some guard depth to the Celtics rotation.

Following their loss to Milwaukee, the Celtics now hold a narrow 0.5 lead atop of the Eastern Conference and could fall to second place with a loss against the Pistons. Wednesday’s game is set to tip off at 7:30 pm Eastern Time in front of the TD Garden crowd.