Summer League

Taylor Snow

Over the past 10 days, the Boston Celtics showcased some up-and-coming talent as part of Summer League action in Las Vegas.

We’ve put together a list of some of the top performers from the five-game session, each of whom will have a chance to make their mark on the NBA roster and/or with the Maine Celtics this coming season.

We didn’t see a lot of Dalano Banton this summer, but the newest Celtics signee still showed enough during his limited action to earn a spot on this list.

The 6-foot-7 guard played in the third and fourth games of the session, the latter of which featured him as the star performer. Banton went off for team highs of 18 points and nine rebounds against the New York Knicks, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers along with a 5-of-6 clip from inside the arc.

Banton is an exciting offensive player, who can gallop upcourt in transition, drive through contact and finish at the rim, and can operate as a pick-and-roll ballhandler.

The former second-round draft pick has two years of NBA experience under his belt with the Toronto Raptors. He's already proven to the Celtics that he can score in bunches, as he did during their April 7 matchup when he tallied 10 points in the final 90 seconds of the game.

Boston’s front office clearly sees promise in the 23-year-old, as shown by the fact that they signed Banton to an NBA contract the day after Summer League ended.

Justin Champagnie was a rebounding machine this summer, grabbing a team-leading 8.3 boards per game. That number might not seem too high at first glance – until you take into account that the player who produced it is just 6-foot-6.

Champagnie, whom the Celtics signed in early April, ranked second among all small forwards in total rebounds per game and first in offensive boards with an average of 3.8 per game. He had 23 total rebounds in Boston’s first two games, including a whopping 13 on the offensive end.

During Game 2 against Washington, Champagnie logged arguably the most impressive individual stat line of any Celtics Summer League participant: 21 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, and one block in just over 28 minutes of action.

He had a few hot shooting stretches over the course of his four appearances, showing off his ability to hit threes in transition. Like Banton, he was also quick to get to the cup and had some creative finishes.

For the second straight year, J.D. Davison led the entire Summer League in assists, dishing out 36 helpers in five games. Twenty of those dimes came in the first two games, including his personal high of 11 in Boston’s opener against the Miami Heat.

Along with his 7.2 assists per game, the 6-foot-3 point guard produced 9.8 points and a team-high 1.4 steals per game.

One area where Davison struggled was the turnover department, in which he averaged 4.4 per contest. However, that was largely due to one poor performance – a 10-turnover performance in the second game against Washington. If you take that game out of the equation, his turnover average drops all the way to a much more respectable 3.0.

As he showed with Maine last season, Davison is an elite lob-thrower and an explosive athlete who can rip the rim off the basket. And at just 20 years old, he still has plenty of time to grow, as he will continue to do this coming season while on a two-way contract with the Celtics.

Jay Scrubb may not have been on the radar of Celtics fans prior to this summer, but he sure is now.

The 6-foot-5 shooting guard averaged 14.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 40.0 percent from 3-point range, and was easily the most consistent player on the team.

Not only did Scrubb show off an efficient shooting stroke, but he had some quick, shifty drives to the basket that landed him a handful of impressive finishes and and-one opportunities.

He was a high-level scorer in the G League last season as well, averaging 22.3 points per game (eighth in the league) while being one of six players to earn at least 100 trips to the free-throw line.

By the end of Summer League, Scrubb did more than enough to earn a two-way contract with the C’s, so we should see more of him this coming season both in Boston and in Maine.

If there was a team MVP handed out this summer, Jordan Walsh would’ve had his name on it.

After being drafted No. 38 overall in June, Walsh was labeled as an NBA-ready defender. However, there wasn’t a lot of talk about his offensive skill set.

Walsh led the team in scoring with 18.0 points per game, including Boston’s highest individual scoring output of the summer – a 25-point outpour against the Lakers. &nbsp;

The 19-year-old was the most prolific 3-point shooter on the team, knocking down 11-of-27 from deep for a 40.7 percent clip. That's not bad for a guy who shot just 27.8 percent from long range during his lone year in college.

Walsh also dished out some really nice passes throughout his five appearances, which emphasized his decision-making skills and overall basketball IQ.

On top of that, he lived up to the hype as a high-energy defender both on- and off-ball.

Walsh looked more like a lottery pick than a second-rounder, and he showed that he has a legitimate chance to carve out some NBA minutes in his rookie season.

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5 Standout Performers from Celtics Summer League

The Boston Celtics saved their best Summer League effort for last, as they closed out their stay in Las Vegas Saturday evening with a 94-77 win over the Orlando Magic.

It was by far the most impressive defensive showing of the session for Boston after allowing an average of 97.3 points per game to its previous four opponents.

As a team, the Celtics logged 10 steals and nine blocks and only allowed four free-throw attempts. They also limited Orlando to 37.3 percent shooting from the field, including just 27.5 percent from 3-point range.

Boston got off to a slow start, trailing 15-8 through the opening eight minutes. However, the C’s turned things around after that point, outscoring the Magic 35-19 during the remaining 12 minutes of the first half, including a 27-14 second quarter (Summer League has four 10-minute quarters).

Rookie forward Jordan Walsh scored all 12 of his points during the second frame while shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, 2-for-2 from long range, and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. Second-year guard J.D. Davison had a strong quarter as well, logging seven points, three rebounds, and two assists while making a couple of superb passes to close out the half.

As a team, the Celtics shot 52.6 percent during the second quarter after making just 28.6 percent of their shots in the opening period.

Boston’s offense took it up yet another notch in the third quarter, outscoring the Magic 34-23 while shooting 65.0 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from 3-point range. That’s when forward Justin Bean tallied all 10 of his points, making 4-of-5 from the field including both of his 3-point attempts.

The C’s outscored Orlando 61-37 in the middle two quarters on 23-of-39 shooting from the field.

Boston had an incredibly well-balanced scoring attack with eight players scoring between eight and 13 points.

Two of its top scorers happened to be making their first respective appearances of the summer: 6-foot-9 forward Vincent Valerio-Bodon, who logged team highs of 13 points and six rebounds, and 7-foot center Reggie Kissoonlal, who stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, five rebounds, three steals, and two blocks.

Kamar Baldwin, a standout guard for the Maine Celtics last season, also had a strong showing with 10 points, four rebounds, six assists, one block, and one steal. And he showed that he’s not afraid to pull up and shoot from any distance.

With the win, Boston finished Summer League with a 2-3 record, closing out its Vegas trip on a high note.

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C's Close Summer League on High Note with 94-77 Win Over Magic

Presented on Wednesday night with his first chance to beat LA, Celtics rookie Jordan Walsh didn’t let the opportunity slip away.

The 19-year-old forward scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, leading Boston back from a double-digit halftime deficit for a 95-90 win over the archrival Lakers.

The Celtics trailed by as many as 14 points just before the end of the first half. Walsh then led them out blazing in the first five minutes of the third quarter when he scored 12 points during a 17-5 Celtics run.

Shortly after knocking down a 3-pointer at the 5:03 mark, which gave Boston its first lead since the opening minutes, Walsh uttered a guttural roar of approval to urge his team to keep going. And so they did just that, taking a 73-70 advantage into the fourth quarter.

“It’s all been part of the game plan,” Walsh said of his team's third-quarter run during an interview with ESPN between the final two frames. “Boston, we’re known for being tough, we’re known for fighting, and that’s what we’re doing now. We gathered our team at halftime. We told them, ‘Hey, us being down 10 at halftime is nothing. Let’s fight through it; let’s get the dub.’”

Boston kept fighting all the way through the fourth quarter, going up by as many as eight points before walking away with its first win of Summer League in Las Vegas. Walsh made sure to put the nail in the coffin, sealing the victory with a thunderous dunk with 15 seconds remaining.

Even in Summer League, it feels good to put the “L” in Lakers. Especially for a 19-year-old rookie looking to make his mark in green.

Brad Stevens joined the ESPN crew for a six-minute stretch in the first quarter and touched on a variety of offseason subjects. Perhaps the most noteworthy topic was the health of Rob Williams, which Stevens spoke about with glowing optimism.

As we all know, Williams has dealt with a few rough offseasons throughout his career, including last summer when he had to undergo a knee operation, which kept him sidelined for the first 29 games of the regular season. Upon his return in mid-December, the veteran center seemed fairly steady (aside from a hamstring strain, which caused him to miss eight games in March) and rolled through the playoffs with a perfect 20-game attendance.

All of that second-half playing time doesn’t appear to have had any wear and tear on Williams’ knee, according to Boston's president of basketball operations, who said the big man is feeling the healthiest he’s felt in quite some time.

“He really had a good second half, and we’re hoping to build off of that,” said Stevens. “He hasn’t had a summer of good health in a while, but right now, he feels really good. So we’re looking forward to him building off of that.”

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Walsh Scores 25 as C's Beat LA for First Win of Summer League

Champagnie was poppin’ Sunday night in Las Vegas.

The 6-foot-6 forward was the star of Boston’s second Summer League match, producing game-highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds along with six assists and one block in a 103-98 loss to the Washington Wizards.

A late regular-season Celtics addition, Champagnie didn’t get many opportunities to see the court this past spring. So this summer, he’s aiming to take advantage of every chance he gets in his No. 99 Boston uniform, and Sunday night was a good indicator.

Champagnie scored 10 of his points during the final frame, nearly helping the C’s overcome a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit. They trailed by 10 with less than a minute remaining and his cutting dunk at the 53-second mark helped to kick-start a rapid 7-0 run, which was eventually snuffed out by a late Washington step-back jumper.

Champagnie did most of his scoring damage inside, though he also knocked down a pair of left-wing 3-pointers in the fourth.

However, his most impressive contributions came on the glass. Seven of his 12 rebounds came on the offensive end, and that’s after pulling down six offensive boards in Game 1 Saturday. Thirteen offensive rebounds in two days is pretty darn impressive for a guy who stands one inch below the average NBA height.

Champagnie was one of six Celtics players to finish in double-digits in the scoring department. Jay Scrubb had his second straight game in the teens with 15 points off the bench. Former first-round pick Udoka Azubuike had a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting in less than 18 minutes of action. C’s second-round draft pick Jordan Walsh followed up his team-leading 18-point effort from Saturday afternoon with a 12-point, Game 2 performance. Seven-foot-one center Olek Balcerowski logged 11 points, and forward Justin Bean chipped in with 10.

Jordan Walsh has raised some eyebrows – in a good way – during his first two games in a Celtics uniform. On Saturday, he had a pleasantly surprising shooting performance, knocking down his first four 3-point attempts in the Summer League opener against Miami. On Sunday, he dazzled with his playmaking.

Walsh’s 12 points and three assists that showed up in the box score didn’t tell the full story of his strong decision-making throughout the game but believe us, the 19-year-old showed some real promise in that area.

Two of Walsh’s passes, in particular, stood out: one was a pump-fake, driving behind-the-back toss to Justin Bean that resulted in a wide-open 3-pointer. The other was a shot-fake, over-the-top pass to Udoka Azubuike for an easy dunk.

Paul Pierce’s loyalty toward the Celtics is unmatched. The Hall-of-Famer is still a regular attendee at TD Garden during the season, and he even shows up for occasional Summer League games such as Sunday night.

Although the 2023 Draft class phenom Victor Wembanyma was playing simultaneously in the arena next door, Pierce insisted to NBA TV's Chris Haynes during a second-quarter interview that he’s only interested in seeing his boys in green.

“I’m only here to watch the Celtics. this is the only team and come to games for. I don’t watch nobody else.”

The Truth also reminisced about his first and only Summer League experience in 1999, which didn’t last very long.

“I played two games,” Pierce recalled. “Had a 46-point game and coach said, ‘Go home for the summer.”

Haynes closed out the interview by asking Pierce for his “unbiased” opinion on the Eastern Conference favorite for this coming season. Taking into account the recent addition of Kristaps Porzingis, Pierce answered without hesitation.

“No bias,” he said. “It has to be the Celtics.”

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Champagnie Gives C's Late Burst, Pierce Shows Support for Summer Squad

Jordan Walsh’s No. 1 goal this summer is to prove himself ready to play alongside Boston’s stars. The second-round pick got straight to work Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas, putting on a show in front of Jayson Tatum, who was sitting courtside for the Celtics’ Summer League opener against the Miami Heat.

Walsh, the youngest member of the squad at 19 years old, led all Celtics scorers with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. All of his scoring was produced within the first 26 minutes of the game, including nine points during the first quarter and a 4-for-4 start from deep.

Miami, already warmed up and playing its third game of the summer, wound up getting the best of Boston with a 99-88 win. But a few individual standout performances should leave Celtics fans feeling excited after Game 1.

What made Walsh’s performance so thrilling was the fact that this kid wasn’t even touted as a shooting threat coming out of the draft. The 6-foot-7 forward made his name on the defensive end in college while shooting just 27.8 percent from deep during his lone season at the University of Arkansas.

However, Brad Stevens insisted that Walsh’s shooting improved tremendously from his first draft workout with the team to his second, and Saturday’s performance indicated that Mr. President wasn’t lying.

Walsh hit his first three triples in a span of less than five minutes in the opening frame, knocking down his first bucket from the right corner, followed by a step-back trey from the right wing, and then a catch-and-shoot 3 from the left wing.

The 38th overall pick closed out the second quarter with a twisting mid-range jumper from the free-throw line and then threw down an alley-oop lob from J.D. Davison early in the third. He also knocked down both of his free-throw attempts and capped off his scoring midway through the third with a deep 3 from above the break.

Walsh also lived up to his billing on the defensive end, grabbing five rebounds, snagging two steals, and blocking one shot.

“My goal is to be able to play with some of the guys who are here on the sideline like Jayson Tatum,” Walsh told ESPN’s Chris Haynes during a mid-game interview. “And I know that to be able to play with a guy like that, I’ve got to be able to make open shots, I’ve got to do the dirty work, and that’s what I’m preparing myself for.”

J.D. Davison entered Saturday as the third all-time leader in Summer League assists per game after averaging 8.2 per contest in 2022. The second-year point guard moved one more spot up that list in the 2023 opener thanks to an 11-assist effort against the Heat.

Davison picked up right where he left off, feeding 7-foot-1 center Olek Balcerowski for a hook shot on the very first possession of the game. He handed out four assists in the first quarter, three in the second, and then gave out his final three in the third quarter, which included a beautiful alley-oop toss to rookie Jordan Walsh.

Davison then transitioned into scoring mode in the fourth quarter, tallying nine of his 14 points in the last five-plus minutes of action.

Keep an eye on Davison’s development this summer because his playmaking could come in handy in a backup role this coming season as the C’s try to fill the void of Marcus Smart.

Probably the most talented scorer on Boston’s Summer squad is Jay Scrubb, and he showcased why during the second quarter. The 22-year-old guard went off for 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting during the frame and finished with 17 on the afternoon, one point shy of Jordan Walsh’s team-high mark.

Nearly half of Scrubb’s points came during an individual 8-0 run over a 43-second span. It started with a steal-and-slam and-one, which was followed by a driving and-one layup, which was followed by yet another explosive driving layup.

The 6-foot-5 guard spent part of the last three seasons with the LA Clippers and Orlando Magic and also posted the sixth-most total points in the G League last season (622) along with the eighth-highest scoring average (22.2 points per game).

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Walsh Posts Team-High 18 Points in Summer League Debut

The Boston Celtics’ Summer League team just touched down in Las Vegas and is raring to hit the court for their first game Saturday afternoon against the Miami Heat.

For C’s fans tuning in at 3 p.m. ET, there will be several new names to learn and a few familiar faces with whom to reacquaint. To get you ready for the action, we’re highlighting five players to keep an eye on over the next couple of weeks among those who have officially made the roster.

Udoka Azubuike holds the distinction of being the only former first-round draft pick on the Summer squad and the Nigeria native should stand out in a big way.

For one, he is a massive dude, standing at 6-foot-10, 280 pounds, and possessing a gargantuan 7-foot-7 wingspan. Such length allows Azubuike to defend at an elite level, as he showed at the University of Kansas where he won Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year during his senior season in 2019-20. While in college, he set the NCAA record for career field-goal percentage with a mark of 74.6 percent, edging former Celtic Tacko Fall’s clip of 74.0 percent. They are the only two players in NCAA history to shoot above 68.0 percent in a career.

Azubuike was drafted 27th overall in 2020 by the Utah Jazz, for whom he played a limited role during the last three seasons. However, he’s been productive during his opportunities with career averages of 13.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per 36 minutes. He starred for the Jazz during the 2021-22 Summer League session when he posted 13.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game while seeing an average of 25.7 minutes in seven appearances.

One of the few familiar faces on the roster is Justin Champagnie. The 22-year-old Brooklyn native joined the C’s on April 7 and saw just 33 minutes of action across the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs. He should, however, play a prominent role on this Summer League team.

Before signing with the C’s, the 6-foot-6 forward produced a strong season for the Sioux Falls Skyforce (the Miami Heat G League affiliate), averaging 18.2 points on 52.2 percent shooting along with 8.1 rebounds per game.

Champagnie is a crafty scorer around the rim and a prolific rebounder for his size. One area that he can work on is his long-range shooting and this summer should give him an opportunity to do so. Also, keep an eye out for his twin brother, Julian, who has been balling out for the Summer Spurs squad, logging 58 total points in his first two games of the session.

Believe it or not, J.D. Davison is the only returnee from last season’s Summer League team. And boy, did he make an impression.

The 2022 second-round pick set Boston’s Summer League assists record last year, dishing out 41 in just five games. He was the most well-rounded player on the team, averaging 13.0 points, 8.2 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 46.7 percent from 3-point range.

Davison spent most of last season in the G League where he ranked among the top five in both total assists (227) and assist average (8.7) with the Maine Celtics.

The 20-year-old point guard also saw limited action in 12 regular-season NBA games where he had a few opportunities to show off his passing skills and explosive athleticism.

Expect Davison to be one of the top facilitators in the league this summer, as he chases Lonzo Ball’s Summer League career assist average record of 9.3 assists per game.

Based on the absurd athleticism he’s displayed during practice this week, we’re convinced that Jay Scrubb could probably scrub the Auerbach Center ceiling with his fingertips on a single leap. With a reported vertical of over 40 inches, Scrubb is a high-flying highlight reel (see photo below).

The 6-foot-5 guard has been around the league for a few years now after being drafted 55th overall by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2020 NBA Draft. He spent his first two seasons with the LA Clippers and his most recent season with the Orlando Magic. Though, most of his playing time has been in the G League, where this past season he logged the sixth-most total points (622) and possessed the 8th-best scoring average (22.2) among all players.

Scrubb does most of his damage at the rim, either soaring for dunks or twisting through the air for layups. He was one of the G League’s best at drawing contact last season, as one of six players to attempt at least 100 free throws.

Jordan Walsh is both the newest official member of the Celtics and the youngest member of the organization. And we’ll be seeing plenty of him over the next couple of weeks.

The 19-year-old forward signed his first NBA contract Thursday afternoon, two weeks after being chosen with the 38th overall pick as Boston’s lone selection from the 2023 Draft.

Standing 6-foot-7 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan, Walsh uses his length to wreak havoc on the defensive end. He’s already an NBA-level defender, in the opinion of Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens, and he has a hustling mindset to put his body on the line for his team.

During his only season at the University of Arkansas, Walsh averaged 7.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game. He shot 51.0 percent from inside the arc and 27.8 percent from beyond the arc, though Stevens says his 3-point shot has improved noticeably over the last few months.

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Five Celtics to Keep an Eye on at Summer League

Over the past week-plus, basketball fans were given a glimpse of the NBA's potential up-and-coming talent in the 2022 NBA Summer League showcase. In particular, there were some promising individual efforts that came out of Boston’s summer squad, which went 3-2 during its time in Las Vegas.

Below, we’ve highlighted some of the standout performers, some of whom will have a chance to make their mark with the main roster this coming season.

The most improved Celtics player from the 2021 Summer League to the 2022 session was Juhann Begarin, a 6-foot-5 guard who nearly tripled his scoring average from 6.2 points per game to 18.2 PPG.

Also the most impressive athlete on the floor, Begarin showed off his skills as a dunking machine, speeding coast-to-coast for driving jams and skying toward the roof for alley-oop slams.

Begarin's 91 total points were 17 more than any other player on the team and the prideful defender also led the C's in steals per game (1.8) and minutes per game (31.1).

Begarin’s best showing came in Boston’s final matchup against Brooklyn Saturday night when he erupted for 25 points, shooting 9-of-17 from the field, 3-of-6 from long range, and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line, while also collecting seven boards, dishing out three assists, and snagging three steals.

At just 19 years old, the 2021 second-round draft pick is just getting started.

While Begarin was the most improved from last summer to this summer, JD Davison took the crown as the most improved player over the course of the five-game showcase.

Boston’s 2022 second-round pick started off a little slow as he transitioned into the flow of the professional game, but by the end of the week, he had established himself as the best playmaker in the entire Summer League.

The 19-year-old guard averaged 8.2 assists per game, making him the second straight Celtics player to lead the Summer League in that category after Payton Pritchard paced the league with 8.5 last July. Only Lonzo Ball has averaged more assists per game than those two with 9.2 for the Lakers in 2017. Davison finished with 41 total assists, which set a Celtics Summer League record.

Davison also dropped in 13.0 points per game, corralled 4.8 rebounds per game, blocked 1.2 shots per game, and snagged 1.2 steals per game, while averaging 30.3 minutes in five appearances.

In his last two games, Davison stuffed the stat sheet with 45 points, 20 assists, and 11 rebounds, while shooting 58.6 percent from the field, 62.5 percent from 3-point range, and 100 percent from the free-throw line. That included a 28-point, 10-assist, five-rebound, three-steal effort in a 108-91 win over the Memphis Grizzlies Thursday night.

During Saturday night’s broadcast on ESPN, the announcers agreed that Davison could be the steal of the 2022 draft after being selected No. 53 overall. The University of Alabama product will have a chance to show what he's made of in just a few months after earning a two-way contract with the C’s for this coming season.

Although his Summer League was cut short less than two full games in, Sam Hauser still gave a brief glimpse of his sharpshooting prowess.

The 6-foot-8 forward was off to a hot start in Boston’s second game against the Milwaukee Bucks, as he poured in 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting from deep in the first half to help the C’s get off to a 52-44 lead before the break. However, he suffered a shoulder injury just a couple of minutes into the third quarter of that game, and we never saw him again.

Fortunately, in Hauser's case, he had less riding on this Summer League than the other players on the team, given that he was the only player that had already been guaranteed a full-time NBA contract heading into next season. He already showed his value during his rookie season, which was split between Boston and Maine, where he averaged 18.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game with the Celtics' G League affiliate.

Justin Jackson wasn’t on Boston’s initial Summer League roster, but his late addition proved to be critical toward the team’s success.

The 15th overall pick from the 2017 draft was added following Boston’s summer-opening loss to the Miami Heat, and he immediately brought a scoring punch which helped to kick-start a three-game win streak for the C’s.

Jackson scored in double figures in all four of his appearances, finishing third on the team in scoring average at 15.0 points per game. His best effort came right in the middle of the five-game session when he scored a team-high 24 points while knocking down five 3-pointers in a 103-92 win over the Golden State Warriors.

The 27-year-old journeyman and 2021 NBA champion gave Boston veteran leadership throughout the past four games, while also showing why he still deserves consideration for an NBA roster spot.

Perhaps Boston's biggest surprise of the summer was Mfiondu Kabengele, a 6-foot-10, 250-pound center, who made such a good impression that it earned him a contract with the team by the end of the showcase.

Kabengele was statistically the best all-around player on the roster, finishing among the top five in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. He provided an imposing presence around the rim, averaging team-high marks of 8.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. He also finished fourth in both points (14.8) and assists per game (2.4) and was fifth on the steals list (0.8).

The Celtics didn’t want a player of his caliber to slip from their grasp, so they signed him to a two-way contract immediately following their final game of the summer. The former 2019 first-round pick by the Nets will have an opportunity, along with Davison, to split his time between Boston and Portland, Maine this coming season.

Matt Ryan, like Hauser, had his summer cut short just two games into the action. But boy, did he make his mark in the limited time that he spent on the court.

The 6-foot-7 forward led Boston in scoring in both games that he appeared in, dropping 15 points in the opener against Miami and then 23 against Milwaukee. The latter effort against the Bucks was highlighted by a 6-of-11 performance from 3-point range, which included the game-winning triple with 0.8 seconds remaining.

Unfortunately, Ryan got injured on that same game-winner, as he landed awkwardly on his left ankle and remained writhing on the court in pain for several moments, unable to celebrate his heroic shot.

Despite the injury, the 2021-22 Celtics two-way player proved that he can still play at the NBA level. He was a walking bucket in his two appearances, shooting 55.0 percent from the field, 52.6 percent from deep, and 100 percent from the free-throw line, and finished with the most 3-point makes per game (5.0) across the league.

Brodric Thomas’ sharpshooting prowess was right up there with Matt Ryan’s, finishing as the team’s leading 3-point shooter from a volume standpoint. The 6-foot-5 guard connected on the sixth-most long-range shots in the league with a 12-of-23 (52.2 percent) clip from deep in four appearances.

Thomas also excelled in several other areas, joining Kabengele as one of only two Celtics players to finish among the top five in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. He was third on the team in assists (2.5), steals (1.3), and blocks per game (0.8), while also finishing fourth in rebounds (5.3) and points per game (13.3).

This was nothing new for Thomas who, last season with the Maine Celtics, averaged 14.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. Over the past eight days, he continued to show his ability to impact the game across the board, while also proving that he can be a reliable, high-volume sniper from long range.

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Top Celtics Performers from the 2022 Summer League

JD Davison felt confident in transitioning from college to the pros after just one season at the University of Alabama because he believed that the floor spacing at the NBA level would help benefit a dynamic guard of his caliber.

On Tuesday afternoon, he proved his point with a monster double-double performance that helped the Summer Celtics secure their third straight win in Las Vegas.

Davison recorded Celtics Summer League highs of 28 points and 10 assists, while also corralling five rebounds, snagging three steals, and blocking one shot in a 108-91 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Boston’s second-round draft pick scored half of his points in the second quarter and entered halftime with 19, just one shy of his scoring total from the previous three games combined. He finished the afternoon with shooting clips of 9-of-14 from the field, 4-oif-6 from 3-point range, and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.

It was far better than any performance that Davison had with the Crimson Tide, as he surpassed his collegiate scoring high by eight points while also tying his best collegiate mark in assists. The 28 points he scored plus the 23 he created from his assists accounted for nearly half of Boston’s scoring on the afternoon.

The way he dominated the game made Davison look more like a lottery pick than a late second-rounder, as he blew past defenders on drives to the basket, confidently knocked down jumpers from long range, and dished out lobs to his teammates with immaculate touch.

Although he was certainly the star of the day, Davison wasn’t the only one who helped contribute to Boston’s convincing victory. Juhann Begarin – last year’s second-round pick – followed up his 21-point effort from Tuesday night with a 19-point performance on 9-of-18 shooting. Justin Jackson followed a 24-point gem with a 16-point, five-assist effort. Brodric Thomas chipped in with 13 points and five rebounds. And Trevion Williams logged a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds in just 17 minutes of action off the bench.

The C’s have been on a tear ever since losing their first game of the summer, beating the Bucks on a Matt Ryan game-winning bank shot, snagging a wire-to-wire win over the Warriors, and finally delivering a mauling to the Grizzlies. They’ll wrap up their summer session this weekend with one final game, for which the time and date have yet to be determined.