Derrick White took over for the Celtics in the third quarter, a welcome sight following his rough outing Thursday.

On a team full of star players like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White has emerged as one of the key pieces for the Boston Celtics.

Derrick White was huge with his 16 points in the third quarter as the Celtics return to Boston after a 3-1 road trip.

The Celtics return to TD Garden after a four-game road trip as they’ll face a familiar foe in the Rockets and ex-C’s coach Ime Udoka. They have two players listed on the injury report for the 7:30 p.m. Monday game.

Boston has had some issues making adjustments when the starting lineup is out there. Specifically, Derrick White has performed poorly. The Celtics guard has put up some stinker performances. In their most recent loss to the Celtics, White had just six points on 2-9 shooting.

Jayson Tatum scored 24 points, Derrick White added 23, including Boston’s first 11 of the third quarter, and the Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 122-107 on Saturday night in the first meeting between the teams since the NBA Finals.

White (knee) has been cleared to play in Saturday's game against the Mavericks, Justin Turpin of WEEI.com reports.

The Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics met in Dallas on Saturday for their first matchup since last season's NBA Finals. Dallas was missing many key pieces, including starters Luka Doncic and Dereck Lively II, while Boston was wrapping up a four-game road trip.

This afternoon, the Dallas Mavericks will host the defending NBA Champions, the Boston Celtics, in a game that tips at 4:30 CST at the American Airlines Center.

The name points us in the right direction to answer such a question, but what is it that the Boston duo do to generate all that defensive chaos?

It didn't take long for the action on the court to dispel any notion that it would be a dull contest. Or so we thought in the early going.