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.