In their final Summer League “regular season” game, with an outside shot at the playoffs on the line, the Boston Celtics came up short against the Dallas Mavericks. The Finals rematch ended in a 101-90 victory for Dallas, who earned their first win in Vegas.
Jaelen House led the Celtics in scoring, dropping 18 points on 19 shots, while Baylor Scheierman added 15 of his own. The entire starting lineup cracked double-digit scoring marks, as did Ron Harpter Jr., who poured in 11 points off the pine.
1. Anton Watson could make Celtics consider pulling out wallet
Jaden Springer was great in the one game he played. Neemias Queta proved dominant in the two he appeared in. But nobody on the Celtics had as impressive of a Summer League as rookie big man Anton Watson.
Against the Mavericks, the former Gonzaga big man put up 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two blocks while shooting 5-of-11 from the field and 2-of-4 from deep. But most importantly, he was constantly in the right position defensively, proving his abilities as a stalwart on that end of the floor.
Boston has an open two-way spot right now, and he is the clear frontrunner to land it. But with how well he’s played, the Celtics should seriously consider opening up their wallet and signing him to the 15th roster spot using the second-round exception. That way, they could get him on a four-year deal.
Watson is that good.
2. Jaelen House deserves a spot in Maine
Despite barely seeing the court until Boston’s third game, House has proven worthy of staying in the Celtics organization. In fact, Boston should do whatever they can to keep him around unless someone else scoops him up on a two-way contract.
Though he wasn’t efficient against the Mavericks (7-of-19 FG, 2-of-7 3PT), he did everything else at a very high level while showing flashes of quality scoring.
House played solid defense, hustled whenever he got the chance, dished out nine assists, and even dove on the floor to force a jump ball—which he won.
“His energy is great,” said coach DJ MacLeay. “He’s awesome to have around. I think, just in general, he’s really, really taken on a role of trying to pressure the ball. And then, I thought he did a good job of handling a massive load offensively today.
“Obviously, we were down a couple guards, so he was along with the ball in his hands a lot, getting us into stuff, and organizing [our offense]. I thought he did a pretty good job of that, considering he had to do all that.”
The six-foot point guard just plays basketball the right way, and he’s the type of player who Celtics fans would fall in love with immediately.
3. Jordan Walsh lives in his own head rent-free
This was about as bad of a Summer League showing as Jordan Walsh could have possibly had. He played fine defense against the Mavs. He snagged 11 rebounds and dished out four assists. But he just can’t get out of his own head.
“When I think back on the game, one possession really sticks out,” said MacLeay. “He made a really, really concerted effort to crash the offensive glass, got an offensive rebound, and I think someone else got a three.
“And so, I think when that comes to mind, like, he played really, really hard today, and I think he’s doing the best he can defensively. And I think that he had a good game on that end. Shots come and go. It’s a small sample. You just got to stay with the process, keep shooting the right ones, and go from there.”
Walsh shot 0-of-10 from beyond the arc against Dallas, bringing his Summer League total to 0-of-22 on threes — zero threes made in four games on over five attempts per game. He was the only player in Summer League with double-digit three-point attempts without a make.
“I feel like you kind of have to go in with the mentality of being better than you were before. And I guess that’s kind of what slumped me in the beginning,” Walsh said of his Summer League showing. “Just kind of going in with that mentality. Not going in with the right mentality of, ‘Alright, I got to go out and play as hard as I can. The results of the results.’ So, now I’m trying to switch to that and let that be the main goal and see how it goes.”
For a guy hoping to have an outside shot at breaking into Boston’s rotation next season, this Summer League stint was an absolute disaster. It was painfully clear that he was in his own head worse than ever before.
4. Baylor Scheierman’s shooting is back
After a rocky start to Summer League from behind the arc, Baylor Scheierman found his range against the Mavs. He went 3-for-6 from distance while totaling 15 points and five boards.
Scheierman’s impact on the game boils down to much more than his shooting, but it was nice to see a few go down on Friday. He’s been impactful in every area of the game, and after the game, he credited assistant coach Craig Luschenat for helping him throughout Summer League.
“Craig watched a lot of film, and he’s been helping me out a lot with defense and the verbiage,” said Scheierman. “And like I said, watching a lot of film of the games, trying to learn, and just be better each time I step on the court.”
5. Killian Tillie is back
Prior to joining the Celtics for Summer League, Killian Tillie hadn’t played professional basketball in two years, as he was dealing with a multitude of injuries. But, after shaking the rust off in the first couple of games, he found his rhythm.
Against Dallas, Tillie posted a 12-point, four-rebound statline while shooting 5-of-10 from the floor and 2-of-5 from distance. His three-point shot is clean and confident, and his defensive instincts are impressive, too, as he nabbed a steal and a block as well.
The Celtics may not have room to keep around, but he’d make a great project up in Maine. Gonzaga just knows how to churn out quality big men.
6. Ron Harper Jr. finally flashes potential
It has been a fairly underwhelming Summer League for Harper, who the Celtics have inked to a training-camp deal. But in their final game against the Mavericks, he had his best performance of the event.
Along with his 11 points, Harper added two rebounds, one assist, and one block. He shot 4-of-9 from the floor and 3-of-6 from beyond the three-point arc. And most importantly, his shot looked confident from distance, as he let it fly without hesitation.
7. Is Jahmi’us Ramsey getting a contract?
The Celtics sat Jahmi’s Ramsey for their final Summer League game. If he were under contract right now, that wouldn’t be a topic of conversation. He’s been amazing so far. But since he’s not on a deal, the fact that they sat him could mean that a deal is in line for the 23-year-old.
Now, the deal he gets may not be with the Celtics, but by sitting out, Ramsey is essentially screaming, “I’m going to sign a contract and don’t want to risk getting hurt.”
8. The rest
Jaden Springer, Neemias Queta, JD Davison, and Drew Peterson all sat out in this game, which makes sense. All of them will be back in Boston next year (or Maine, in the case of the latter two).
Considering the fact that he was the first player signed to Boston’s Summer League team, or at least the first to be reported, Tristan Enaruna had a very disappointing Summer League. He just couldn’t get on the court. And when he did play, it just looked like he was out there filling space.
Tyler Cook was alright in his final Summer League stint, but he just feels a bit too slow-footed on defense to earn real run. His hard screens and solid instincts could earn him a spot in Maine, but he was pretty mediocre.
The Celtics (2-2) will wrap up their time on the Strip on Sunday at 5 pm EST against the Philadelphia 76ers (3-1).
