Jordan Walsh bounces back with best game of the summer in Celtics win

The Celtics beat the Lakers in their next-to-last Las Vegas Summer League game, withstanding an early run from the Lakers to pull away in the third quarter. Jordan Walsh led the Celtics with 17 points. Hugo Gonzalez, Miles Norris, and Kenneth Lofton, Jr. were also double-digit scorers. Lofton added seven rebounds to lead the C’s while also dishing five assists. Baylor Scheierman led the Celtics with six assists.

Box Score

Note: Charles Bassey is no longer with the team. The Celtics told reporters in Las Vegas that this was always the plan due to prior commitments, so his three games are his only games with Boston at this point. 

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

Jordan Walsh: His best game of the summer so far. He shot well and was really feeling himself by the end of the night. He had a big windmill dunk and blew a kiss to the crowd, then a couple minutes later he hit a corner 3 followed by a turn to his teammates on the bench to yell something undoubtedly fun. 

Walsh played under more control in this game, I think. He had some moments where the bad habits showed themselves, like a straight-line drive into a packed paint with no plan, which led to him getting swallowed up and blocked. But there were fewer of those.

Maybe the ejection forced him to refocus because he seemed to be a much bigger part of the offense. He felt present, even gesturing to teammates where to be on the floor.  

Fun side note: Walsh became Boston’s all-time leading summer league scorer with 185, passing Al Jefferson’s 182. 

Hugo Gonzalez: He scored 13 points, nailing two of four from deep to go along with five rebounds, two assists, and a blocked shot. 

I think the summer chapter of the book on Gonzalez has been thoroughly written. He’s a high-energy guy who can see the game well and make nice plays off that feel. His baseline cut and feed to Miles Norris for a dunk was very nice. 

Those moments are balanced by some turnovers and drives that go nowhere. He is still playing super-fast, and he hasn’t gotten a feel for the size and speed of NBA defenders, which leads to getting his shot blocked. 

I love his hustle and I think he sees the game well. Those are good building blocks. 

Baylor Scheierman: He was 2-14 overall and 2-11 from 3. He’s 8-39 from 3 this summer, just 20.5%. He has distributed well, defended, and rebounded this summer, but the one thing he’s supposed to be able to do hasn’t worked for him. 

I keep telling myself not to worry about makes or misses at summer league, so I’m not going to. I just have to hope that this is a weird slump and that's all. 

Amari Williams: He can find a cutter, that's for sure. The rest of his game needs work. He’ll get plenty of opportunity to earn minutes in Boston, but I don’t think he will do much with that right now. He needs time to work on his overall game. 

Kenneth Lofton, Jr.: Easily his best game of the summer. It was enough to counterbalance that first game, where I thought he should have been cut at halftime. He’s settled into his role in Vegas and has played a more all-around game. He finished with 12/7/5 to go with three steals. He did have five turnovers, but a couple were miscommunications. 

I’m not advocating for him to be on the team, but my boiling point on him had dropped to a simmer. I don’t think he makes the team, but I get it if they invite him to camp. 

Max Shulga: Keep an eye on him in the G League. He’s not an NBA player yet, but he could grow into one.

Miles Norris: His best game of the summer, but his hold on the final two-way spot is tenuous, at best. 

The Celtics have at least one more game to play in Vegas, but it has not been scheduled yet. There is a playoff system that will determine that game.