UJSL2016

Marc D'Amico

addByline("Marc D'Amico", "Celtics.com", "Marc_DAmico");

SALT LAKE CITY – Terry Rozier dealt the San Antonio Spurs a dose of payback Thursday night – payback that was a year in the making.

Rozier canned a dramatic, game-winning 3-pointer as he was fouled during the final seconds of Thursday’s matchup.  Rozier’s basket put Boston on top 87-86 with 1.8 seconds left on the clock, and though he missed the ensuing free throw, the Celtics grabbed the loose ball and dribbled out the clock for the win.

“I was kind of open for a split second,” Rozier said as he recalled the final play, which was actually drawn up for James Young.  “So I called [Guerschon Yabusele’s] name.  He got me the ball, and I threw up a prayer… and got the win.”

Thanks to Rozier’s heroics, the Celtics exit Salt Lake City with a perfect 3-0 record.  They also were able to exact revenge on the team that derailed Boston’s attempt at a Summer League title last July in Las Vegas.

Boston won its first four games last summer in Vegas before taking on the Spurs in the quarterfinals of the playoffs.  Rozier remembers exactly how that game went down during crunch time.

“If you remember last year, I hit a big [3-pointer] in the corner (to tie the game with 2.5 seconds left),” he recollected, “then they came down and hit a running floater to win the game.”

Rozier, who’s a very competitive player, had that memory at the forefront of his mind when the ball hit his hands during the final seconds Thursday night.

“I was just like, ‘I’ve got to knock this down,’” he said.

Rozier finished the contest as Boston’s leading scorer (23 points), rebounder (seven rebounds) and assist man (six assists).  He shot 8-for-15 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line.  The game-winner accounted for his only made 3-pointer of the night.

Micah Shrewsberry, who will be replaced by Jamie Young as Boston’s Summer League head coach in Las Vegas, credited Rozier for stepping up in multiple ways when his team needed him most.

““[Terry’s composure has been] really big, and we’ve leaned on him,” Shrewsberry said.  “With R.J. (Hunter) and Jaylen (Brown) not playing (the last two games), he’s really had to take on a leadership role, even more, but also a bigger scoring role.”

Over the course of three games in Salt Lake City, Rozier scored a team-best average of 19.0 points per game.  He also averaged 6.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.

Without Rozier’s heroics, the Celtics were likely to suffer a gut-wrenching loss at the hands of the Spurs.  Boston did not trail the entire game until Alex Kirk put home a reverse layup at the 5:35 mark of the fourth quarter to give San Antonio a 73-72 lead.

The contest remained a one-possession game until the final two minutes, when the Spurs eventually pulled ahead 86-80 with 1:10 left on the clock.  That’s when Rozier took over.

The second-year guard scored on a driving layup with 51.1 seconds left on the clock, then added another layup with 28.8 seconds remaining to slice San Antonio’s lead down to two.  The Spurs called for a timeout but failed to score on their ensuing possession.

Boston then called a timeout of its own to draw up a potential game-winning play, and as we now know, that play did not work to success.  Yabusele took an inbound pass from Young at the extended elbow but was unable to connect with Young as the sharpshooter drifted to the right corner.

Rozier intelligently drifted out to the right wing after setting a brush screen for Young.  Yabusele found him, passed him the ball, and the rest is history.

Boston is the only team that will exit Salt Lake City with a perfect 3-0 record.  Impressively, it accumulated three wins without the services of Hunter and Brown for the last two games, and without Jordan Mickey for all three games.

Those three players, all of whom are likely starters for this team, could very well be back in action when the Celtics open up play in the Vegas at 6 p.m. Saturday evening against the Chicago Bulls.

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Rozier Delivers in Clutch, Keeps C's Undefeated

SALT LAKE CITY – Very rarely is a first-round draft pick asked to participate in a third straight offseason of summer league ball.

Even rarer is a first-round draft pick only 20 years old while entering his third summer in the NBA.

James Young might be the rarest of breeds, because he can put a checkmark in both of those boxes.

His name is symbolic of his age.  Although Young has been around for a while, he is still very much young.  The swingman, who is entering his third NBA season, will not reach the legal age of drinking in the United States until Aug. 16.

And now think about how much has been expected of this kid since Boston chose him with the 17th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.

The odds have been stacked up against this youngster since he came into the league.  At first, he was too raw to garner playing time.  Then the Celtics quickly rose into a playoff contender, and it was nearly impossible to break into the rotation.

Yet now, three summers into his career and still at the raw age of 20, Young is beginning to show signs of growth.

Two games are in the books for the Boston Celtics during their three-game slate in the Utah Jazz Summer League.  Thus far, Young has not only been the sharpest shooter on the Celtics, but in the entire league.

Young finished Tuesday’s 89-82 win over the Jazz having made four of his five 3-point attempts on the night.  That effort took his 3-point total in Salt Lake City to 6-for-7 over the course of two games, tying him for the most makes in the league, and he needed three fewer attempts to reach that number than his co-leader, Bryn Forbes of the Spurs (6-of-10).

Clearly, Young, who has made only 23 of his 92 career 3s during the regular season, is in a different place with his shot.  He is confident in his release, thanks in large part to the effort he has given behind closed doors.

“I’ve been putting a lot of work in,” he said after leading the Celtics with 17 points Tuesday night.  “So it’s just starting to show off and I’m just going to keep working until I’m where I need to be.”

Pressed further as to why his confidence is so high when the ball now leaves his hands, Young reiterated his work ethic.

“Just because I know how much work I’ve been putting in,” he said.  “It’s starting to pay off.”

The Celtics have watched Young shoot behind closed doors for the entirety of his two-plus years in the league.  Everyone, from Danny Ainge to Brad Stevens, has said over and over that his percentages have not been indicative of his abilities.

Stevens always talks about the Law of Averages, and in regard to shooting, how percentages will always find their way toward where they should be.  Young is finally showing signals that his percentages may be on the rise next season.

Most encouraging about Young’s play is that he hasn’t just hit shots.  He has hit tough shots.

Many of Young’s 3-pointers have been contested, yet he has splashed home the majority of his attempts.  He also made the biggest shot of the night during Tuesday’s win, a splash from the right corner that sealed Boston’s win with 18.9 seconds left on the clock.

Amidst Young’s team-best performance, that shot stood out most to head coach Micah Shrewsberry.

“The shot he made in the corner was huge, just being able to have just the mental focus just to knock one in and kind of put the game on ice,” Shrewsberry said.  “That’s good for him.  I think anytime you can have positive results like that in a pressure situation, everybody builds off that.”

Young can also build off of the steps that he has taken at the defensive end of the court.  Shrewsberry said that in many of the instances in which it appears that Young is in the wrong place, it is because he is overcompensating for his teammates’ defensive lapses.  Young is in correct position more often than not, and he has shown the ability to defend at a high level when the ball is in his man’s hands.

Take, for instance, his possession against Tyrone Wallace during the final minutes of Tuesday’s game.  Wallace made a crossover move to his left before stopping on a dime and whipping the ball around his back and to the right.  Young mirrored him all the way, and when Wallace rose up for a shot in the paint, Young reached in for a blocked shot (that he was not officially credited for).

Had Wallace made that shot, Boston’s lead would have been down to two with 1:24 left in the game.  Instead, Young and the C’s got a critical stop and then followed it up with two points at the other end.

That sequence, save for maybe Young’s late trey from the right corner, was the most important portion of the game, and Young put his stamp all over it.

At this point, many will associate a negative connotation with a first-round draft pick playing in his third straight summer league.  Those people should take into consideration that Young, as corny as it sounds, is still very much young.

He’s still a 20-year-old prospect with upside, and in his third summer league, he’s finally beginning to show signs of growth.

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Youthful Young is Shooting the Lights Out in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY – Tuesday night’s matchup between the Celtics and Jazz featured a team effort from Boston and a monster effort from Trey Lyles.

Boston, which did not have a single player log more than 17 points on the night, pulled out the victory in front of more than 7,000 fans at Vivant Smart Home Arena.    Four Celtics scored between 10 and 17 points on the night, and seven Celtics scored during the final period en route to the win.

The Celtics overcame an impressive performance from Lyles, a second-year forward for the Jazz.  Lyles racked up game highs of 26 points and 11 rebounds on the night.

For the majority of the contest, Boston had no answer for Lyles, who stands in at 6-foot-10 and 234 pounds.  Lyles took advantage of the absences of Jaylen Brown and Jordan Mickey by pounding the ball down on the block.  Lyles shot 8-of-20 from the field and made nine of his 10 free throw attempts.

Boston, however, was able to overcome Lyles’ big night with team-oriented offense.  The Celtics moved the ball to the tune of 13 assists on 27 made baskets, and its ball movement put pressure on Utah’s defense that the Jazz simply could not handle.

The C’s took advantage of Utah’s rotating defense by getting to the line for a whopping 37 free throw attempts.  Boston shot 27-of-37 from the line, which marked 10 more makes and 16 more attempts than Utah.

On the back of strong first-half play from Lyles, who scored 13 points over the opening two quarters, the Jazz led for the majority of the half.  They pulled ahead by 10 points less than five minutes into the game, marking the largest lead of the night.

Boston answered quickly with a 9-0 run, including five points from Malcolm Miller, over the course of only 100 seconds.  That spurt cut Utah’s lead down to one, and the game was neck-and-neck for the remainder of the night.

Neither team led by more than five points during the second quarter, and the Jazz held a 50-47 advantage heading into the locker rooms.

The third quarter was when the Celtics truly found their groove.  They opened the period with an 8-0 run that was punctuated by a James Young 3-pointer from the left wing.  That run gave the C’s a 55-50 lead, and they never looked back from that point on.

Boston pulled ahead by as many as nine points during the final period, but Utah wouldn’t go away.  The C’s held only a four-point advantage during the final 30 seconds of the game before Young came up big yet again.  The third-year swingman canned his fourth and final trey of the night, this time from the right corner off of a kick-out from Terry Rozier, with 18.9 seconds left in the game to give his team a comfortable cushion.

Young finished as Boston’s leading scorer with 17 points.  He shot 4-of-5 from long range.  Rozier, meanwhile, tallied 16 points to go along with six rebounds and a game-high four assists.

Also of note were the 13 points and eight rebounds that Guerschon Yabusele tallied.  Yabusele, who was selected 16th overall by the Celtics in last month’s Draft, was coming off of a performance Monday night that featured only five points on 1-of-5 shooting.  Micah Shrewsberry, head coach of the Celtics in Salt Lake City, said that he wanted to call Yabusele’s number more often Tuesday night so that the big man could “come out and make a statement and be featured.”

Yabusele capitalized on his opportunity by making five shots and attacking the glass at both ends of the floor.  He, along with Young, Rozier and Marcus Thornton, accounted for Boston’s four players who scored in double-digits.

On the other side of the ball, only Lyles and Dionte Christmas scored in double-figures for the Jazz.

Boston now stands at 2-0 on the week despite playing Tuesday night without the services of R.J. Hunter (sore right wrist), Jaylen Brown (hyperextended right knee) and Jordan Mickey (sore left shoulder).

The Celtics will have Wednesday off before returning to the court at 7 p.m. Thursday night, when they will take on the Spurs with a chance to put a cap on an undefeated stay in Salt Lake City.

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Team Effort Helps C's Overcome Lyles' Big Night

SALT LAKE CITY – Terry Rozier put an exclamation point on Boston’s 102-94 win over the Sixers Monday night by slamming home a monstrous dunk in transition with 18 seconds left on the clock.

What a fitting ending.  Rozier deserved to punctuate the victory that he authored all night long.

Rozier, not No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons, was the best and most consistent player on the floor Monday night.  While Simmons showed brief flashes of elite passing, it was Rozier who got it done at both ends of the court and everywhere between.

The second-year point guard finished the contest with a team-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists.  And although his box score shined bright, it wasn’t necessarily his statistics that stood out most.

No one on the floor seemed as comfortable and confident as Rozier.  He was a visible calming factor for a young Celtics team that featured two rookies in its starting lineup and three more who saw action.

As head coach Micah Shrewsberry put it, “He’s our point guard.”

Rozier looked the part, and that’s no surprise now that he has a full year of NBA basketball under his belt.

“It felt like last year, even in the Summer League, I just caught myself moving around too much, just not thinking the game as much,” he said.  “So that’s what I wanted to take into consideration this summer and it helped me out a lot coming off the pick-and-roll and just letting everything calm down for me.”

His demeanor rubbed off on his teammates as well, which is the mark of a great leader.  Rookie Jaylen Brown, who clearly had some jitters at the start of the contest, commended Rozier’s ability to lead the team.

“He’s a general on the floor,” said Brown.  “He gets everybody in position and scores and makes plays.  It makes it easier for people like me, because when he draws so much attention on the screen-and-roll, it leaves me open on the shot.”

Rozier’s improved play comes as no surprise to him.  After all, he knows better than anyone how much work he has put in since last season came to a close.

Rozier went into the summer with two goals: slowing the game down from a mental perspective, and improving the arc on his shot.  It appears that he has reached both of those goals already.

Only one player in the game, teammate R.J. Hunter, made more 3-pointers than Rozier’s two (Hunter made three).  Rozier shot 2-for-4 from long distance and also canned another perimeter jumper that was later ruled a 2-pointer.  His jumper looked smooth and confident, and that arc he mentioned looked much improved.

Rozier credited his agent, Aaron Turner, for pressuring him to stay in the gym throughout the summer.  Turner also took it a step further, hiring shooting coaches to work with Rozier on his jumper.

For at least one day, all of that hard work has paid off.  Rozier was unquestionably the best player on the court Monday night, and he capped the game in style.

Over the past 12 months, many have questioned Danny Ainge for selecting Rozier with the No. 16 overall pick in last year’s Draft.  If Rozier continues to play the way he did Monday night, the next exclamation point he’ll will write will be at the end of this sentence: “Danny was right!”

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Offseason Work Already Paying off for Rozier

SALT LAKE CITY – The Boston Celtics opened up their summer slate with a 102-94 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers Monday night in Salt Lake City.

Terry Rozier and R.J. Hunter – two second-year Summer Celtics – were the biggest reasons why.

Rozier and Hunter, who combined for 35 points on the night, looked like seasoned vets when the game was on the line.  They totaled 10 of the team’s final 17 points of the game, along with a dagger of a dunk by Rozier, to go along with strong play at the defensive end of the court.

Boston led for the majority of the contest, although its lead was slim throughout.  In fact, its final advantage of eight points marked the largest lead of the game by either team.

James Young got the Celtics rolling early on by canning two 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the game.  His teammates quickly followed suit, racking up a 15-2 run during the middle of the first quarter that fueled a 23-20 lead at the end of the frame.

Rozier and Hunter were key cogs during an important stretch of the second quarter as well.  Philadelphia had taken a 32-27 lead at the 6:32 mark of the period before Boston’s backcourt duo caught fire.  Hunter and Rozier, respectively, sandwiched smooth 3-pointers around another deep jumper from Rozier to mark an 8-0 run over the course of only 50 seconds.  That spurt provided Boston with a lead that it never relinquished until the early moments of the third quarter.

Although the 76ers made a run during the second half, highlighted by a 6-0 run to start the third quarter, Boston was able to stem the tide.  Surprisingly, its best players during the third period were two reserves.

Malcolm Miller, playing with the Celtics for the second straight summer, scored eight points and made all three of his shot attempts during the quarter.  Meanwhile, second-round pick Demetrius Jackson pitched in six of his own while making all three of his shots.

Their scoring kept the C’s afloat until the big dogs were able to do their thing during the fourth quarter.

Rozier and Hunter scored six points apiece during the final frame, while No. 3 overall pick Jaylen Brown logged eight points of his own.  Brown drew oohs and ahhs from the crowd as he rose up for two thunderous dunk attempts before being fouled.

Boston’s opening game of Summer League play went very much according to plan.  Two of their backcourt vets, Rozier and Hunter, led the team with 18 and 17 points apiece, respectively.  Brown, meanwhile, showed off his slashing ability by getting to the line for a game-high 17 free throw attempts – eight more than any other player in the game.  Brown finished with 16 points to go along with six boards and two blocks.

The Celtics will be back in action again at 7 p.m. Tuesday night when they take on the league’s host, the Utah Jazz.

UJSL2016

Rozier Delivers in Clutch, Keeps C's Undefeated

Youthful Young is Shooting the Lights Out in Utah

Team Effort Helps C's Overcome Lyles' Big Night

Offseason Work Already Paying off for Rozier

Rozier, Hunter Lead C's Past Sixers in Utah