LAS VEGAS -- With Hugo Gonzalez and Amari Williams in street clothes, the Boston Celtics' Summer League luck ran out on Monday afternoon. They got absolutely battered by the Atlanta Hawks, falling 102-90. Atlanta was up by as many as 29 points in the fourth quarter.
“I think the biggest thing is just our energy," Amile Jefferson said post-game. "I thought our energy wasn't there, and they were shooting like 7% from three at halftime. They were making a lot of tough shots, and they were bigger than us at points, and it was hard to keep them off the glass. And I think we all know that this game truly comes down to shot-making and rebounding, and they did that at a higher level than us today. And they went out and grew a big lead, and it was hard for us to get back in.”
Boston missed Gonzalez's ball-handling the most. Williams' passing ability would have helped organize things, but with Milos Uzan and Curtis Jones left to run the offense, the Celtics didn't have a steady hand. Uzan played okay, thriving in the pick-and-roll at points, but Jones looked rough.
Jones' turnovers and poor shot selection put the Celtics in a tough spot on offense. He often missed open passes, choosing to take contested shots instead. And his work on the defensive end left much to be desired, too.
Kobe Johnson, the brother of Hawks star Jalen Johnson, dropped 30 points for Atlanta, shooting 11-of-18 from the field and 4-of-9 from deep. Henri Veesaar, a projected fringe first-round talent who fell to pick No. 52, also looked great. He finished with 20 points, four rebounds, and three assists on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor and 4-of-6 shooting from deep.
Despite reaching 90 points -- not an awful mark for Summer League -- the Celtics' shot-making wasn't good enough, especially in comparison to the Hawks'. Boston took three more shots, two more free throws, two more threes, and grabbed six more offensive rebounds than Atlanta. But the Hawks made five more shots and two more triples.
It was a mixed bag of performances for Boston. Rookies Dillon Mitchell and Chris Cenac Jr. had very different nights, though we can discuss them in more detail later in the article. Outside of them, Tucker DeVries stood out the most.
The 23-year-old forward has a pure jump shot, though it's only pure when it goes in. I know how that sounds. It sounds like, 'yeah, duh.' But the makes are clean. Swishes. No-doubters. The misses clang off the backboard or airball completely. He had 11 points, one rebound, and one assist on 4-of-10 shooting from the floor and 3-of-8 shooting from deep.
He's not the best defender, and at one point, he missed a rebound and got chewed out by Jefferson in the huddle. There's an outline for an okay player there, especially with the jump shot, but DeVries is certainly a work in progress.
After two straight impressive performances, John Tonje struggled on Monday. He put up five points and two rebounds on 2-of-8 shooting from the field and 1-of-6 shooting from deep range. His scoring just wasn't there on a day when the Celtics really needed it.
No one else on the Celtics stood out much. Hank Morgan played some okay minutes. Kyle Mangas made some shots, but his defense wasn't great. Nick Pringle flashed his athleticism, but he wasn't always in the right spots at the right time. Again, Boston really missed Gonzalez and Williams. Gonzalez, in particular.
© Denis Poroy
Dillon Mitchell
Mitchell didn't fill up the stat sheet as he did on Sunday. He ended the game against Atlanta with 11 points, four rebounds, and two assists while shooting 5-of-10 from the floor and 1-of-3 from 3-point range.
But he still showed glimpses of impressive play. Crashing at certain times. Hustle defense. Smart footwork. And perhaps most notably, his shooting. Mitchell -- who shot 1-of-15 at St. John's last year -- is now 3-of-8 from beyond the arc in Summer League. It's something he and the Celtics have been working out since he got to Boston.
“Yeah, I think so. I think as far as just shooting on the way up, and then just having confidence," Mitchell said when asked if he's felt a change in his shot since getting to Boston. "Everybody on the bench has confidence when we shoot the ball. It's not a lot we were able to do before Summer League, but [so far] it's just confidence and tweaking the little things. After Summer League, when we have a lot of time, and I get back to Boston, we'll definitely work [on it more].”
Immediately after the draft, Mike Zarren expressed confidence in Mitchell's shooting ability. Billed as a non-shooter, Zarren noted that he believes that won't be the case in the NBA. In fact, he said the Celtics don't have any doubt.
At the time, that statement felt ambitious. Mitchell made just 11 threes in his collegiate career, shooting 11-of-57. But now, through three Summer League games, Zarren's confidence is starting to make at least a little bit of sense.
"Very confident. I've always been confident," Mitchell said regarding his confidence as a shooter. "I always just try to make winning plays. So for some teams that I'm on, where I don't need to be shooting, I need to try to get to other things, [and] that's what I'm [going to] do. In this case, they want me to be comfortable and confident and shooting the ball as far as all the other things I do as well. So, I've always had the confidence just by going out there, and hearing them have the confidence in me as well, and just going out there and playing my game.”
But Mitchell's shot extended beyond the 3-point line on Monday. Or, more aptly, inside it. Mitchell nailed two 2-point jumpers on Monday: A pull-back and a turnaround. For a guy labeled as a non-shooter, the two moves were eyebrow-raising.
He's been in the gym with Boston's player development staff since he landed in Boston. The work he's done with them is seemingly already paying off.
“It's awesome because it was immediate," Mitchell said when asked about the player development staff's impact. "I mean, me and Chris landed in Boston after the draft, and I mean, we got straight to work. That says a lot about the culture and what they're looking [for] out of me and Chris. Just developing us. Trying to get everything they can out of us. And I mean, it's just been great as far as the development.
"That's one of the biggest things with both of us, as far as being rookies, it's just about developing. We want to have long careers, and we're not here to try to be superstars right from the jump. It's just about developing and getting better every day.”
You can just see it with Mitchell. You can see the type of player he can be. Summer League doesn't always translate. It doesn't always tell the whole picture. But from his crashing to his mindset to the way he speaks off the court, Mitchell screams star role player. I'm extremely high on him.
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Chris Cenac
This was a rough one for Cenac. Though the box score tells a different story: 16 points, five rebounds, two assists, and four blocks while shooting 6-of-13 from the field (and 0-of-2 from deep). But watching him play, there were some puzzling moments.
First, the turnovers were rough. He finished the game with five, and most of them were loud. Errant passes. Unforced errors. You can tell he's a 19-year-old playing his first games against NBA competition, which is normal.
What's less normal were the lapses. There were multiple times in this game when it looked like Cenac just stopped playing. He got a block, didn't get the rebound, and balked when he was about to go back to contest. But he didn't move. The Hawks missed, grabbed another offensive board, and drew a foul. All the while, Cenac just kind of stood there. Still.
It happened again at another point when the Celtics were on offense. The play didn't finish with a bucket, and Cenac just stood in the dunker. But it didn't look like he was doing so in a 'read to go' way. More of a 'Oh, what now?' way.
Boston was on a back-to-back. That's not something Cenac -- or most of the guys on the team, for that matter -- are used to. “Fatigued, but you got to push through," Cenac said. "Got to go out there and compete.”
But those two small moments were loud. At least, to me they were. Cenac is young. He's playing his first few NBA games, and those types of things can easily be weeded out. But loud is loud. And those two instances caught my eye. He was even late on a closeout at another point. Maybe he was tired. He was almost definitely tired. But still.
Cenac also has an issue under the rim. He's constantly getting strip-blocked, where a defender just slaps his hand down and pokes the ball loose. It cost the Celtics a bunch of good looks at the rim.
On a more positive note, Cenac's shot-blocking also caught my eye. He had just 18 blocks all of last year at Houston, and through three Summer League games, he already has nine. It's one of the things Boston's coaching staff is emphasizing for him. “Protecting the rim for sure, and then bringing more flow in the offense," Cenac said when asked what the coaches specifically are looking for from him.
The talent Cenac possesses is undeniable. Jefferson says as much whenever he gets the chance. He flashes some shot-creation skills, his rebounding is genuinely otherworldly, and the defense is clearly there. But for the same reason Cenac chose to play under Kelvin Sampson, he needs to learn from Celtics culture: You can't get tired. You can't let up. And you most definitely cannot stop playing.
That's the type of thing that's going to quickly be woven into his brain once he gets to Boston, and probably starting right now in Vegas. If it sticks, Cenac has all the talent to be a really good player in the NBA. If not, then we'll see.