The Boston Celtics played their third Summer League game this afternoon against the Charlotte Hornets.  To be honest with you this game was not pretty until the last five minutes when both teams decided to play well.  I haven’t even mentioned the winner or loser of the first two games because it really, really doesn’t matter but it was nice to see the Summer Celtics bare down in a close game and pull out the win. 

The first game was the Jaden Springer game and the second game was the Neemias Queta game.  Well, this was the Anton Watson game.  Watson had his best game so far.  The Celtics kept penetrating and dishing to him and he let it fly, as Brad Stevens told hit to do after the draft.  He made 3 of his 9 three-point attempts but all of his shots looked on.  As Danny Ainge once said “good shooters miss long and short, bad shooters miss left and right”.  Watson was missing long and short when he did miss.  His release seems a little slow to me but, at least for now, he should only be taking wide open shots so it should not matter.  Obviously, if he can speed it up, he will be a better player.  The Rookie also showed nice touch around the basket and rebounded well.  He likes to grab a rebound and take the ball up court himself.  This is something the Celtics actually like to do.  On defense he was defending everybody, the Cs played a bit of zone, and didn’t look bad against wings or bigs.  He ended up with 15 points, 5 boards, 2 helpers, 2 steals and a block.  He is really starting to look like he could be a good D and 3 guy. 

Baylor Sheierman had another bad shooting night, but that was all he did bad. Most of his shots fell short again.  I don’t know if he is having trouble adjusting to the deeper three-point line or if he is worn down going from March Madness to working out for the draft to the Summer League.  College players aren’t used to playing past March, maybe it’s affecting him.  But then he looks fine in every other aspect of the game so who knows.  He went to the hoop a lot more in this game and did a tremendous job of creating contact and getting to the free throw line.  He also did a good job creating for others.  To me, a big part of him succeeding in the NBA is that he has to remember that he is more than a shooter.  He can do more on offense and needs to be more aggressive with the ball. 

Jahmi’us Ramsey actually had his best game.  He was actually looking to pass more and play more as a teammate.  I still don’t like his game but I gotta give credit when he plays better if I am gonna knock him when he plays bad. 

JD Davison looked the same as usual.  He only took one three which is odd for him.  He only turned the ball over once in traffic but the Hornets never really pressured him.  It’s Summer League, no one is game planning for these games.

Jordan Walsh is having a terrible Summer League.  You would have expected him, with a year under his belt, his athleticism, and the numbers he put up in the G league, to have dominated this year.  He has not.  He doesn’t even look good.  You would have expected fans to be arguing he’s ready to break into the rotation.  Right now, he doesn’t look like he should be in Maine’s rotation.  Hopefully he felt the same way and is putting too much pressure on himself and is trying too hard.  Again, you never want to read too much into Summer League, good or bad, but this has been, at best, a miss step in his development. 

With Queta, Springer, and Peterson all sitting out, the Celtic got more into their bench and Jaelen House got to play more than a cameo in this one.  To be honest with you, I kinda liked his game.  He is small but he knows how to use his quickness and agility to his advantage.  I said last recap that he looked like he liked to get into guys on defense and be a real pest.  He did that a lot today.  He also pushed the ball on offense and played with a ton of energy and pace.  I could see him being a third, change of pace, point guard on an NBA team.  He does need to remember that he is only 6 feet tall once he gets in the paint.  Scoring among the trees doesn’t seem to be his thing. 

I still don’t see it with Ron Harper Jr.  Tyler Cook got to play and had a nice little game for himself.  And Killian Tillie hasn’t been bad this summer.  With his size and three-point shooting, he’s a guy I could see signing in Maine as an “in emergency, break glass” kind of guy.  

One more game to go. It’s Friday at 1:30. My recap will not be coming right away.  I will watch the game on tape and get my recap out some time that night.