The NBA’s preeminent shot-blocking guard outdid himself Tuesday night in Utah.

Derrick White, who leads both the Celtics and all NBA players at his position in blocked shots this season, swatted away a career-high seven in Boston’s 129-119 road win over the Jazz.

It was the second-highest single-game block total by any player this season — Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs’ 7-foot-4 phenom, had nine in an overtime game on Oct. 24 — and equaled the best mark ever by a guard since the NBA began recording blocks in 1973-74.

Four others had seven, but none since Tracy McGrady in 2000, and none with the production White had in other areas Tuesday night. He became the first guard in league history to tally at least 27 points, seven rebounds, six assists and seven blocks in a game.

White did not miss from inside the arc (6-for-6) or the foul line (9-for-9), offsetting a 2-for-10 showing from 3-point range, and scored 22 in the second half to help Boston pull away.

The blocks, though, were the main attraction at the Delta Center. Here’s a closer look at how White pulled off each of his seven rejections:

First quarter, 11:46: Less than a minute after tipoff. White gets his hand on an inbounds pass to Lauri Markkanen beneath the basket, waits while the Jazz forward regains possession, then blocks him from behind with help from center Neemias Queta. Markkanen would be White’s No. 1 target throughout the game.

First quarter, 8:37: Markkanen again. This time, the 7-foot-1 Utah star tries to drive past the 6-foot-4 White in transition. But a lane to the rim never opens. White backpedals for five steps from the 3-point arc to the restricted area — narrowly missing Jaylen Brown’s right foot on one — before elevating to deny Markkanen’s layup.

Second quarter, 9:57: Utah again attempts to push the pace after a Queta miss, but Isaiah Collier meets the same fate as Markkanen. White takes five steps backward after picking up Collier at the free-throw line and times his jump perfectly for the block.

Second quarter, 0:03: After powering a second-quarter rally that put the Jazz ahead by five, Keyonte George looks to cap it with a last-second layup. He eludes rookie Hugo Gonzalez with a crossover but runs straight into White, who’d been lurking at the fall block. White’s forearms extend above the rim as he and Queta snuff out George’s drive.

Third quarter, 9:54: White’s four first-half blocks came as a rim defender. On his first of the second half, he chases Markkanen over a Jusuf Nurkic screen and swats the ball out of his hand as he pulls up for a 3-point attempt.

Fourth quarter, 7:41: Add in one from the midrange for good measure. White hounds Markkanen over two screens — one by Collier, the second by Nurkic — and bats the ball away as he goes up for a 12-foot jumper. This block tied White’s single-game career high, which he set with San Antonio in 2019.

Fourth quarter, 0:32: Walter Clayton Jr. drives on Gonzalez, and White, arriving as a help defender, leaps too early. He keeps his eyes trained on the ball, though, and is able to block Clayton’s layup during his descent, gaining a measure of revenge after the Jazz rookie posterized him with a first-half dunk that White admitted he did not see coming.

“A couple of them came on-ball; a couple of them came off-ball,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters postgame. “I think this year, his role has grown to (the point where) tonight, when we went with Derrick, Payton (Pritchard), Anfernee (Simons) and Jaylen, he has to guard the other team’s best player. So he got a couple (blocks) on pick-and-rolls, on pull-up threes. And in the beginning of the game when he’s kind of roaming, guys we can shift off of, he does a good job of coming in and knowing when to help and not.

“So (it shows) just his defensive versatility, but obviously he was great tonight.”

Which of White’s blocks was most impressive? We’d give gold to his second of the game (the driving Markkanen layup bid), silver to his blocked jumper in the lane and bronze to his rejected 3-pointer.

Simons hitting stride

While White was hosting his block party, Simons was putting together one of his best outings in a Celtics uniform.

Boston’s third guard tallied 20 points on 6-of-15 shooting (4-for-10 from three), five rebounds, four assists, one steal and one turnover in 28 minutes against Utah. Simons played 17 uninterrupted minutes in the second half — from midway through the third quarter until Gonzalez replaced him with 41.6 remaining — during which the Celtics turned a two-point deficit into a comfortable 10-point victory.

Simons was a plus-27 in the win, by far the best of any Celtics player. Luka Garza was second at plus-13. No starter was better than White’s plus-3.

That’s quietly become a trend for Simons, who is coming off the bench this season for the first time since 2021. After taking time to adjust to his new role as Boston’s sixth man, the former Portland Trail Blazers starter has emerged as an effective second-unit quarterback.

From the start of the season through the end of November, the Celtics outscored opponents by just seven total points during Simons’ minutes, and his net rating was in the negatives, worse than all of the team’s regular rotation players except for the recently resurgent Garza. But since the start of December, Simons boasts the second-best plus/minus in the entire NBA (plus-128), trailing only Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace. His net rating across his 12 December appearances was 21.0, way up from his prior mark of -0.2.

“I thought Ant was great tonight on both ends of the floor,” Mazzulla told reporters after Tuesday’s game. “I thought he had some great possessions on Keyonte George in the first half. Obviously, everyone will see the scoring, but I thought his physicality and his attention to detail on defense was great. Obviously, when we get that version of him, it makes us a different team, so I think he helped us a lot.”

In the coming weeks, the Celtics will have a potentially difficult decision to make on Simons, who has appeared in all 32 games this season and ranks fourth on the team in minutes played. Do they look to trade him and his $27.7 million expiring contract ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline, either for luxury-tax relief or help at another position? Or keep him, having seen the value he can provide in his role?