Summer C's start terrible but nearly come all the way back

The summer Celtics have one game left (tomorrow, 6:30 p.m.) and after Friday night’s performance, they might be ready for summer league to end. They started out their Friday night game against the Knicks looking like they were all playing with heat stroke. Eight of Boston’s 21 turnovers came in the first quarter, and the first half was marred by mistakes that were more hilarious as it went along. 

The Knicks built a 23-point lead but Boston actually cut it down to two with eight minutes to go, but they got a little too 3-point happy (hey, just like the real Celtics!) and they couldn't complete the comeback. 

Here are some thoughts: 

Jordan Walsh: The hype train should slow down a little after this performance. It wasn’t outrageously bad, but he did come back down to earth a little bit. He didn’t shoot well overall, but 13 points on 40% shooting from 3 sounds great, but the -10 in the box score actually tells a story (I never reference +/- in summer league because it’s generally unreliable). He was not as crisp defensively as he has been, and it could have been worse had the Knicks found Walsh’s open man more often. 

JD Davison: I’m down on him after summer league. I’m not writing him off, but I really need to see him show a lot in the G League this upcoming season. There's just no excuse for some of the turnovers he gives up and how much he bites on shot fakes. He has to be better. 

Dalano Banton: The overall numbers look good: 18 points on 7-12 shooting (2-6 from 3), 9 rebounds, and 2 assists. He had some decent stretches but he also had some baffling mistakes, especially for a 23-year-old with 95 NBA games under his belt. He spent some plays moving way too fast, mis-reading the defense, and turning the ball over, and then he spent some playing under total control. He has to find some consistency. 

Jay Scrubb: Same story for Scrubb. If Boston can keep him on a two-way deal, then they should lock that up. The only issue is that I feel like he’ll get a camp invite from someone else. Can he knock down the open shots at this rate at the next level? If he can find that kind of consistency in his shot, then he might have a chance to stick. 

Justin Champagnie: He was part of the comeback, and he might be earning himself some more guaranteed money from the team for this upcoming season. The Celtics can do worse in the search for emergency shooting on the open market. 

I think we’ve learned all we’re going to learn about these guys from summer league. Luckily for us, the NBA is giving us another game tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.

Honestly, though, this really is the type of summer league team we should want. If the Celtics are good enough where they're picking at the end of the first round or into the second, then they're not going to have great talent on their summer squad. I’d rather toil trying to analyze the Celtics summer league team than do deep dives into prospects who are going to be changing the team’s fortunes.