Celtics 88, Lakers 74: Neemias Queta stands out, JD Davison, Drew Peterson play well in C's win

The Celtics beat the Lakers in their second summer league game, 88-74, behind a 22-point, eight-rebound effort from Neemias Queta. Jahmi’us Ramsey added 13 for Boston while Drew Peterson chipped in 12. JD Davison had seven assists to lead Boston. The Celtics won in a very familiar way, hitting five more 3-pointers than the Lakers and going to the line 20 times to LA’s 12. Jaden Springer did not dress for the game, but there's no indication that he was injured. Here are a few observations from the game. 

Neemias Queta: This was a better game than the first for Queta, even though he was solid against Miami. The Celtics were finding him early and he was making an impact on both ends of the floor. 

Weirdly, the Lakers getting lost on defense and Queta taking advantage is translatable to the regular season because he will find the most success operating in space left by defenders chasing Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and everyone else around. His ability to recognize where to be and when is what makes him effective around all of Boston’s best players. 

JD Davison: I actually liked his 2-5 3-point shooting game better than his 3-3 game against Miami. I liked the shots he got, the misses weren’t bad, and the shots he hit looked pure. I don’t always find perfect shooting nights from historically bad shooters very impressive because they can just be chalked up to hot shooting. Sticking with it through some misses and dialing in a couple of deep shots is a better indicator of his shooting coming around. 

I do think he dribbled a little too much a little too often, but I’m not too worried about that because he was waiting for plays to develop and that doesn’t always happen quickly in summer league. 

Baylor Scheierman: Tough shooting night, which is disappointing because he drilled his first jumper and then couldn't find the touch afterward. I’m not too worried about it, though. He was 1-6 from deep but he was open for a few that never found him. 

He did have three assists and some of those passes were pretty nice. I think the assessment after the Miami game still holds after this game.

He also wins a summer Tommy Award for this play trying to save a possession:

If you want to endear yourself to Boston fans, risking your life for a meaningless loose ball in summer league is certainly one way to do it. His defense was better than it was in the first game, so it's nice to see game-to-game improvement like that. 

Drew Peterson: All of his 12 points came on four made 3-pointers, mostly at the end to put the game away. He also hit one from the Bellagio. 

His shooting will be what gives him a chance. 

Jordan Walsh: Another rough shooting night, going 0-5 from 3. He was saying all the right things before the game, and I don’t think he necessarily played poorly, but he needs to figure out that deep ball in a hurry. 

I think he’s leaning back on some of his 3-pointers and it’s causing them to miss short. Then he’s getting in his own head and getting frustrated. They let him shoot a technical free throw and he missed, and you could see him fighting the frustration. 

I’m actually not that discouraged by the misses. I think his first few misses were on line. He’s not missing wildly. I don’t think he’s that far off from finding the shot. He just needs to tighten up some fundamentals and I think he might be better in his next game.  

He also made this move, which might be the best move I've seen from him. 

Anton Watson: Not much different than his first game. He made some nice, fundamentally sound plays and finished with seven points and seven rebounds. He added a block, a steal, and an assist. Still needs to be more aggressive with his shot, but I think he might be pretty good around good players. 

The refs: They handed out technical fouls for almost nothing in this game. Queta got one for saying “that's all ball” after a foul call. Jaelen House (Eddie’s son) got one for almost nothing. And then there were delay of game calls that took more time to stop and call than whatever it is the player did to trigger the whistle. 

It’s summer league for them too, and they're probably super-sticklers for things just to show they know the rules. 

Bronny James: The broadcast mentioned him every chance they got, even though he didn’t score until late in the game and barely contributed at all. He’s not good right now. He has a lot of work to do. Even though I know why, it’s kind of unfair to put so much attention on a kid who needs this much work. 

Next up: The Celtics play Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. I’m very happy that game is on at a normal time. A 10:30 p.m. summer league start is asinine.