MIAMI — At the moment Derrick White’s buzzer-beating layup fell through the basket, his father, Richard, could not celebrate yet. The officials still needed to rule whether the putback bucket would count.
Few reviews have ever weighed more. If the referees waved off the basket, Boston’s season would end in a crushing fourth-quarter collapse. If they determined the score counted, Derrick’s shot would head straight to Celtics lore. He would be the savior of the season. The extender of the Eastern Conference finals. The humble, unassuming guard with the wherewithal to hustle his way into history. On the court, Derrick believed he released the ball just in time. In their Denver area home, his parents held their breath.
“Did he get it off?” Richard wondered.
Yes. Just barely. In the final fraction of a second, Derrick rescued the Celtics’ season. At the last possible moment, he crashed past Max Strus, flew toward the legends of John Havlicek and Larry Bird and finished a 104-103 Game 6 thriller with a putback of a Marcus Smart miss.
“I stood up,” Richard said during a phone conversation. “My wife and I slapped hands. And all we could say was, ‘Oh, my God.’”
Omg that’s my boy
— Richard White (@RamblinWreck34) May 28, 2023
None of the Celtics players had…
