Baylor Scheierman stands out, Jordan Walsh ejected, in Celtics first summer league loss

The Celtics lost for the first time at Las Vegas Summer League, dropping a tight game to the Miami Heat. They fell down big in the first half, made it back in the third and took a lead in the fourth but a couple of breaks went Miami’s way down the stretch. Baylor Scheierman led Boston with 19 points, nine assists, and five steals. Seven Celtics scored in double figures. Charles Bassey fell one rebound shy of another double-double. Jordan Walsh scored 13 points in 10 minutes before being ejected. Amari Williams got the day off on the second night of a back-to-back. 

Box Score

Here’s a player-by-player look at how things went.

Baylor Scheierman: He’s apparently tinkering with his shot so I’m going to back off a little on the misses. He went 4-13 in this game, which is a good news/bad news thing. The good news is that he hit four, which is nice after hitting just one in each of his first two games. But needing 13 attempts to do it (shooting 30.8%) is less than appealing. Again, work in progress. 

But the five steals and nine assists stand out. 

He got one of each on this play: 

That play was very impressive. It starts with really good defense, then the hustle, and then a perfect dime to hit Walsh at the 3-point line while sitting at the backcourt hashmark. Beautiful stuff there. 

I think Scheierman has played pretty well in three games, so we might see him get one of these next two games off. Maybe he’ll play through it to keep working on that jumper, but I think the evaluation portion of his summer league is mostly done. The next step is seeing how he does in the preseason with his teammates. I think Scheierman will have a chance to make the end of Boston’s rotation. 

Jordan Walsh: He got ejected after two technical fouls for shoving Heat players. 

I appreciate the fire, but I don’t appreciate the stupidity. These were two different players, neither of whom did anything so egregious that it warranted such outright retaliation. He wasn’t standing up for a teammate and I don’t even think there was much there worth getting so worked up. 

He was on his way to a headline-grabbing kind of night and instead we’re talking about him getting thrown out of a summer league game. The whole thing, from the choice to make those plays, to target different guys, the hooting after the second altercation … all of it was just weird. I think he needed to play the minutes instead of doing whatever all that was. At least he acknowledged after the game that it was not his best moment.

Hugo Gonzalez: This young man was FRUSTRATED. He looked every bit the 19-year-old in this game, getting outwardly frustrated at missed shots, missed reads, and foul calls against him. 

But in the midst of all that, he made this incredible pass: 

He had a better second half, coming up with a big offensive rebound and putback, and then taking a charge as the Celtics were fighting for the lead. So he didn’t let the early bad play hurt him too much. 

Still, this was a bad game with good moments, which is fine. This is his first taste of everything and this is the time to screw up and learn from it. 

Charles Bassey: He was okay, but I have one problem with him in this game, and it might explain why he’s available.

Watch him try to line up the blocked shot on this play. 

He has a moment where he could have beaten the driving player to the spot, put his arms up, and been a deterrent. 

Instead, he took a step backwards to load up the springs for the blocked shot. 

He got the block, but the momentum took him out of bounds. His man was trailing the play and got the easy putback. 

So I ask you, what good was the blocked shot? 

That was a bad defensive play. Getting in position to stop the drive, make the guy think twice about shooting, or contest the shot while under control so you can get back into the play even if they still get the rebound makes more sense. 

I praised his instincts after the last game but this time I think he showed why he’s available. It’s a very coachable thing, but he has to get out of that habit in a hurry. If he doesn’t, he’ll just end up being a cheaper version of Hassan Whiteside. Anyone who has known me for a while knows that's a massive insult. 

Max Shulga: Eight assists with no turnovers. He missed all his shots, so that's not ideal, but he once again showed an ability to value the ball while running the offense. That will earn him an opportunity at some point. 

Miles Norris: He made some nice plays on his way to to 10 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. He’ll be fun in Maine. 

Kendall Brown: Solid game. Could be a camp cut/stash in Maine guy. 

Kenny Lofton, Jr.: I’m being fair to him here because I’ve killed him twice so far. He played MUCH better in this game. I have to believe someone got to him and told him to stop being so selfish because he is a much different player than he was in the first game. 

I still don’t think he has a future in Boston, but at least he listened. That's good to see. 

Boston’s next game is against the Lakers Thursday night at 9 p.m.