NBA summer league

Marc D'Amico

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LAS VEGAS – The Summer Celtics’ stay in Las Vegas finally came to an end Sunday night when they fell 95-80 to the Portland Trail Blazers during the quarterfinals of the MGM Resorts Summer League tournament.

Down two starters and their two leading scorers entering the day in Semi Ojeleye and Jabari Bird, who both were both held out of the lineup for rest purposes, the Celtics just didn’t have enough firepower at either end of the court to keep up with Portland, which remained undefeated in Las Vegas.

Boston shot just 39.7 from the field as a team during the loss. Portland, meanwhile, shot 47.4 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from long range. Blazers guard John Jenkins led the game in scoring with 25 points.

Jenkins and the Trail Blazers took early control of the matchup, as they built a double-digit lead during the first quarter and trailed for only 38 total seconds of the game, all of which were played during the first quarter.

Still, Boston’s grit and hustle stood as a challenge to Portland during the second half.

The C’s, who trailed by as many as 14 points during the first quarter and by as many as 12 points during the second quarter, fought their way back into the game during the second half. They slowly whittled away at their deficit during the third period before scoring five straight points to cut Portland’s lead down to one at the 7:21 mark.

That moment marked the first time the game reached one-possession territory since Portland led 11-8 during the opening minutes.

The teams went back and forth for the next four minutes, with neither pulling ahead by more than three points during that span. Boston tied the score up twice, but it was never able to take a lead.

During that stretch, Guerschon Yabusele sandwiched two 3-pointers around one from the Trail Blazers, leaving the game tied up at 59-59. That’s when Portland blazed ahead.

Portland responded to Yabusele’s treys with a 10-0 run that gave it a 69-59 lead with less than a minute to go in the third. The spurt, which featured six points from Jake Layman and four from Archie Goodwin, wiped Boston’s momentum and hope away.

The Trail Blazers would go on to pull ahead by as many as 18 points down the stretch of the fourth quarter before finishing with the 95-80 victory.

The far majority of Boston’s offense on the day arrived via three players. Trey Davis came off of the bench to lead the team with 19 points, while Yabusele and Hassan Martin scored 16 points apiece. No other member of the team scored more than seven points.

Boston finished its stay in Las Vegas with a 4-2 record, which included victories over Philadelphia, Miami, New York and Charlotte. Bird (16.8 points per game), Yabusele (12.8 PPG) and Ojeleye (12.4 PPG) were the team’s leading scorers during the team’s 11-day trip to Vegas.

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Without Ojeleye and Bird, Summer C's Suffer Elimination in Vegas

LAS VEGAS – The Summer Celtics went 4-2 in Las Vegas. That record accurately indicates that there was far more good than bad to see out of this team during the MGM Resorts Summer League.

Below are some general observations we took from Boston’s 11-day stay on The Strip.

We were fortunate enough to be granted a full day of access to Boston’s Summer League coaching staff. One thing we learned during that time was that Jay Larranaga, who served as the team’s head coach, can command a room. It’s important for a coach to be able to command respect, and also to be able to teach players, both in the film room and on the court, in a concise manner. They must explain things quickly, and in an easily digestible format. Larranaga does all of that, and his players knew exactly what was expected of them on this team.

Semi Ojeleye showed significant growth from last year’s Summer League experience, when he was a rookie. This year, he was far more comfortable, his offense was far more diverse, and his defense was even more problematic for opponents. He was strictly an off-ball shooter last summer and last season. This time around, he showed flashes of being able to not only create shots, but also to make them. He wound up shooting 43.0 percent from the field and 33.0 percent from 3-point range; not great numbers, but he certainly showed progress. Defensively, he was even better in Vegas than he was last season – and that’s saying a lot. Brad Stevens asked Ojeleye to learn how to stay in front of scorers and get into their air space; Ojeleye showed that he can do both, after mainly doing only the former last season.

Guerschon Yabusele had some great moments and some questionable moments during Summer League play. The good news is that there were more of the former than of the latter. Boston wants to be able to use Yabusele as a playmaking big man, and Yabusele made some very impressive plays for teammates during his stay in Vegas. He also closed out shooting the ball well Sunday night, when he scored 16 points and shot 4-for-7 from long distance. Yabusele is still developing, and people must understand that. Remember, no one thought Marcus Smart or Terry Rozier were going to be who they are now after they played in their second Summer Leagues. Yabusele showed signs of growth in Vegas, but he still has a lot of room left to improve. He needs more time – and more NBA reps – to fulfil his potential.

No player on Boston’s roster made more noise than Bird, who is currently a restricted free agent. He was outstanding during his four games in Vegas, averaging 16.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game, all while shooting 57.0 percent from the field. He scored in every possible way, from athletic drives and finishes, to pull-up jumpers, to canning 3-pointers. He did not play during Boston’s final two games, but he didn’t need to. He already opened eyes all around the league with his all-around game, and he’ll surely be receiving plenty of calls once the league departs its annual stay in Vegas.

Summer League unfortunately was not a very opportunistic experience for rookie big man Rob Williams. Williams played only seven minutes during Boston’s first game in Vegas before suffering a left leg contusion that kept him out of the next five games. He was able to work out privately with the coaching staff, but missing out on game action certainly put a damper on his first few weeks with the team.

Trey Davis plays with a great pace, never being sped up by opponents, but always probing the defense for driving and passing lanes. He didn’t play during the first couple of games, but when he did finally get the call, he answered by playing well. He’s not an elite shooter, but he is great at breaking a defense down and creating shots for himself or for teammates. Davis, who grew up with Marcus Smart, also plays as hard as Smart does while he’s on the court. It’s hard not to like that.

A few players on this team would fit in just fine on a football team. Hassan Martin is one of them. Martin is a bulky and strong 6-foot-7 forward who showed high-level talent around the basket. He’s a true back-to-the-basket type player who can finish with both hands. The problem is that he’s only 6-foot-7. Still, he was one of the brightest spots on the team among players who are not signed to the C’s. He averaged 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game despite playing only 18.7 minutes per game.

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Celtics.com's Final Observations from C's Stay in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – Brad Stevens has raised eyebrows in the past by likening Guerschon Yabusele’s playmaking potential to the playmaking ability of five-time All-Star Al Horford.

Yabusele raised eyebrows Saturday afternoon by substantiating Stevens’ claims during the final minutes of Boston’s 74-72 win over the Miami Heat.

The Celtics led by as many as 14 points during the fourth quarter of the contest, but Miami stormed back to make it a four-point game entering the final three minutes of play. That’s when head coach Jay Larranaga decided it was time to run the offense through Yabusele in the post, after the big man was primarily utilized only in pick-and-rolls during the first 37 minutes of the contest.

Yabusele began posting up just outside of the left elbow for the next two minutes, and as a result, Boston began creating quality and game-altering looks around the basket.

The first arrived off of a give-and-go between Yabusele and point guard Pierria Henry. Henry tossed an entry pass to Yabusele outside the elbow and then rubbed off of Yabusele, using him as a screener, for a cut to the basket. Yabusele quickly read the defense and tossed a soft pass over the top of the defense to Henry for an uncontested layup under the basket.

Henry inexplicably missed the layup, but the wheels had already been set into motion for what Boston would run during its next two offensive possessions.

After Miami cut the Celtics’ lead down to two, squeezing them into a pressure-filled possession, Boston went back to Yabusele in the same location. This time, Yabusele waited for Henry to clear through, and then locked in on Justin Bibbs, who was cutting off of a screen set by Jarell Eddie on the opposite side of the court.

Bibbs came free off the screen, and Yabusele tossed a perfect jump pass to him into the center of the paint. Bibbs then turned and dropped in a beautiful kiss off the glass to double Boston’s lead up to four.

Miami turned it over on its next possession, and you might be able to guess where the C’s turned after they brought the ball up the court: right back to Yabusele outside the left elbow.

Boston ran the exact same action yet again, and this time, Yabusele tossed a perfect bounce pass to the cutting Bibbs for an uncontested layup.

That stretch of play, which built a six-point lead for the Celtics with only 1:17 left on the clock, was the most critical juncture of the game. Boston turned to Yabusele’s playmaking to lead it to victory, and it worked – three times in a row.

“He’s a ball-handling big guy,” Larranaga said of Yabusele after the win. “He has very good court vision. You compare him to a Kelly Olynyk, a Boris Diaw, guys like that that are most dangerous when they have the ball in the post as passers.”

That comment sounds a lot like those Stevens has made about Yabusele in the past. Maybe it’s time to start believing in them.

Yabusele is entering just his second season with the Celtics. As such, his working knowledge of the offensive system is far more advanced than it was at this time last year.

He also has a full season under his belt of observing one of the top playmaking big men in the league in Horford. Those factors combined to teach the youngster many lessons during the last year, all while helping to improve his comfort level in the system.

“It’s better,” he said of his comfort level, “because I’ve spent one year with the Celtics and with Al Horford, and I was looking at him and the way he plays and the way he comes at the game. So just spending one year on the bench, looking at him, was very important for me.”

It must be noted that it’s rare for a player to enter the league a rookie and immediately understand how to play with the ball in his hands. Sharpening that ability is a process, and Yabusele, as he enters his second season in the league, is beginning to run instead of walk when it comes to that process.

“You remember even guys in our past like Evan Turner and Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart,” said Larranaga, as he explained the development path for players who are asked to make plays with the ball in their hands. “All of these guys have been the most physically gifted players their age, and they were able to get away with a lot of things until the NBA. Now in the NBA, you have the most physically gifted of the most physically gifted, and you need to adjust.

“You need to figure out, ‘OK, what can I do here? Am I going to get my shot blocked if I drive against this guy? How quick can this guy close out on me? Can I get my 3 off?’ So I just think that’s repetitions of playing against the elite athleticism that we have in the NBA.”

Yabusele has now been doing so for a full 12 months. That time has allowed him to better understand Boston’s offensive system, and how to read defenses in the NBA and make quick decisions.

At the ripe age of 22 years old, he’s still in the development stage of his career. But if Saturday’s clutch-time performance was any indication, maybe Stevens is on to something when he says that Yabusele has the potential to become a playmaker with the ball in his hands, in the same mold as Horford.

After all, Boston is moving on to the quarterfinals of Summer League because of such skills. Without them, the Celtics would likely be heading home.

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Yabusele Shows Off Evolving Playmaking Skills To Lead C's To Win

LAS VEGAS – Derrick Walton Jr. missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer for Miami, and for the second time in as many games, the Summer Celtics sidestepped a late comeback attempt by their opponent to advance to the next round of the Summer League tournament in Las Vegas.

Miami trailed by as many as 14 points during the fourth quarter before making it a one-possession game on multiple occasions during the final two minutes. Boston missed four free throws during the final 24 seconds of the game that afforded the Heat an opportunity to grab a shocking win. But Walton Jr. missed his buzzer-beating attempt from 33 feet, and the C’s held on for a 74-72 win.

Boston is now 4-1 in Las Vegas, and it will take on the undefeated Portland Trail Blazers at 8 p.m. ET Sunday night during the quarterfinals of the tournament.

The Celtics owned a lead for the majority of the afternoon matchup with the Heat. Boston never trailed after the game was tied up at 27-27 midway through the second quarter, and it owned a lead for the final 22:56 of the contest, which included the entire second half.

Guerschon Yabusele played a key role in the win by Boston, which played without its leading scorer, Jabari Bird. Yabusele tallied his first double-double of the Summer League with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and he tallied a pair of critical assists for the C’s down the stretch.

Yabusele found Justin Bibbs for a basket at the 1:41 mark of the fourth that doubled Boston’s lead from two to four, and he hit Bibbs again 24 seconds later on an identical action to open the lead up to six with 1:17 to go. The big man finished with three assists on the afternoon.

Pierria Henry and Jarrod Uthoff were the other key contributors to Boston’s offense, which converted on only 39.2 percent of its attempts. Henry tied for the game high in scoring with 15 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Uthoff, meanwhile, added in 11 points.

Offense, however, was not what fueled Boston’s win; defense was its calling card on this day.

The Celtics limited Miami to just 39.7 percent shooting from the field and 23.1 percent shooting from long distance. Only three members of the Heat made at least half of their shots, and three of their starters were limited to eight or fewer points.

Each team’s offense was unquestionably affected by the absences of talented players.

Miami rested two of its top three scorers in Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson. Adebayo averaged 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in Vegas but played in only two contests during Miami’s trip. Robinson averaged 12.8 PPG while appearing in each of Miami’s four games prior to Saturday.

Boston, meanwhile, played without Bird, whom the team decided to rest for the afternoon. Bird averaged 16.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game during the team’s first four contests in Las Vegas. Head coach Jay Larranaga said after the game that Bird could very well return to the lineup for Sunday’s matchup with Portland.

That game will be broadcast at 8 p.m. ET Sunday night on ESPN2. The winner will move on to play at 10:30 p.m. ET Monday night in the tournament’s semifinals. The opponent is to be determined, but it will come from a crop of teams that includes Memphis, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Utah.

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Celts Advance to Vegas Quarterfinals with Exciting Win Over Miami

LAS VEGAS – Jaylen Brown was watching the Summer Celtics take on the New York Knicks Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas, but his mind was back in Boston in the rafters of TD Garden.

Brown, who watched the game with a Celtics contingency that included Kyrie Irving, spoke to the media at halftime of Boston’s 82-75 win over New York. While doing so, he made multiple mentions of his team’s goal for next season: to add to its record collection of 17 championships.

“We’ve got a lot of great talent on this team, with a great coach,” he confidently stated, “so we’re thinking we’re trying to raise a banner.”

Confidence clearly isn’t an issue for Brown and the Celtics, who are riding high toward next season. A team that advanced to Game 7 of the Eastern Finals is primed to return All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward to the lineup. They are stacked with talent, and they are the odds-on favorites to win the Eastern Conference.

Some claim that last fact is a result of LeBron James exiting the East this summer to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers. Brown takes exception to such a notion.

“I don’t like when people say, ‘Now that LeBron’s gone, now you’re the favorite,’” he said, clearly irritated by the idea. “That hurts me. A lot of us, we feel the same, because we feel like whether he was there or if he wasn’t there, we were coming.”

Brown doesn’t like the fact that he and his teammates are now forced to go around James, rather than facing him head-on during the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

“To be honest, I wanted him to stay (in Cleveland),” Brown stated. “I wanted to be the team to go through him.”

Instead, Boston will now go through the likes of Indiana, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Toronto as it aspires to capture its first berth into the Finals since 2010.

While Brown is upset about the fact that the best player in the world has moved out west, he is dedicating the majority of his attention toward what he and his teammates can do to better themselves. Brad Stevens often preaches to his players that they must “control the controllables” and only worry about themselves. That’s the mindset that Brown is taking with him as he navigates through the offseason.

“We just want to be the best team that we can be. Right now, that’s what we’re thinking,” he said. “We just want to continue to get better. We don’t know what the final roster is, so right now we’re just trying to be the best version of ourselves and bring that to the table.

“We’ve got to make sure we take care of ourselves,” he continued. “Eat healthy, and start for the long haul. We’ve got to start thinking now, rather than start thinking later.”

Clearly, Brown has already given plenty of thought to next season. He’s preparing his body and his mind to compete at the highest of levels.

For him, Game 7 of the Eastern Finals wasn’t enough. He has only one thing on his mind, and that’s Banner 18.

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Jaylen Brown Has His Eyes Set on One Thing: Banner 18

LAS VEGAS – The Summer Celtics advanced to the second round of the Las Vegas Summer League tournament by downing the Knicks 82-75 Thursday afternoon at UNLV’s Thomas &amp; Mack Center.

The Celtics are now 3-1 during Summer League play and will take on the Miami Heat at 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday evening in the second round of the tournament.

Boston led by as many as 21 during the win but needed to fend off a Knicks comeback attempt during the fourth quarter to grab the victory. New York outscored the Celtics 25-17 during the final period and at one point clawing back to within four points, but Boston scored every time it needed to in order to maintain a two-possession lead and to finish off the win.

“Just a credit to the guys we have on this team, being calm in that situation,” said Semi Ojeleye, who scored a game-high 21 points. “It started with Jay (Larranaga) telling us just to relax, and realize they were going to make their run at some point and we just had to take it and respond.”

The Celtics responded during the biggest sequence of the game, while New York fumbled away a chance to make it a one-possession game and put more pressure on Boston.

Leading by four with less than three minutes remaining, Celtics guard Pierria Henry drove down the lane and attempted a left-handed layup over Mitchell Robinson. Robinson, however, rose up and swatted the shot away with his own left hand for his sixth block of the game.

Two Knicks were in position to grab the rebound, which would have given New York possession of the ball with 2:32 remaining and a chance to make it a one-possession game at the other end of the floor. However, those two players fought each other for the rebound and wound up losing the ball completely.

The ball bounced right into the hands of Jabari Bird, who was standing nearby and under the basket, and he dropped in an uncontested layup from the left side of the rim to push Boston’s lead back up to six.

New York would climb no closer than to within five points the rest of the way.

Ojeleye was the highlight of the game from Boston’s perspective. Not only did he lead the game in scoring while shooting 8-for-16 from the field and 4-for-9 from long range, but he also added in six rebounds and a game’s worth of lockdown defense.

The premier matchup heading into this game was Ojeleye versus Knicks rookie Kevin Knox. Knox entered the contest averaging 23.3 points per game, and he was getting to the free-throw line for an average of 7.3 attempts per game in Vegas.

Ojeleye played a key role in stopping those trends, as he put the clamps down on Knox to limit the high-scoring wing to 15 points on 5-for-20 shooting, with only four attempts from the free-throw line.

“Excellent,” Larranaga said to describe Ojeleye’s defense against Knox. “I thought he really was able to get into airspace and not give up penetration.”

Ojeleye was one of three Celtics who scored in double-figures. Jabari Bird added in 13 points to go along with 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals, and Guerschon Yabusele tallied 12 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.

The Celtics will have Friday completely off before they return to action Saturday evening. They will be taking on a Heat team that is 2-2 in Vegas, with wins over New Orleans and Utah, and losses to New Orleans and Charlotte.

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Ojeleye Leads C's Past Knicks and Into Second Round in Vegas

LAS VEGAS – Very rarely does a Summer League matchup reach “juicy” territory. Thursday’s looming showdown between the Celtics and the Knicks, however, is as juicy as an In-N-Out burger off The Strip.

There’s the Atlantic Division history between the two organizations. There’s the fact that the Knicks are trying to build toward where the Celtics already are. There’s the win-to-move-on aspect of tournament play.

But the key ingredient to the juiciness of this impending game is the matchup between Boston’s defensive specialist, Semi Ojeleye, and New York’s high-scoring wing, Kevin Knox.

Ojeleye, whom the Celtics drafted 37th overall during the second round of the 2017 NBA Draft,  is coming off of a rookie season during which he was an important contributor to a team that reached Game 7 of the Eastern Finals. He averaged 15.8 minutes per game during 73 regular-season appearances and even started three playoff games.

The role he was asked to fill during his rookie season was to alter the game with his defensive versatility, and to make open shots. He did the former at a very high level.

Ojeleye is regarded by many, including Brad Stevens, as a player who can reach elite status at the defensive end of the floor. As Stevens said Monday evening of Ojeleye, “His ability defensively to keep the ball in front of him is excellent – it’s highest-level.” Still, there is room for growth.

“Now it’s being able to get into people’s air-space and do that,” Stevens said.

In that respect, Thursday’s matchup against Knox, the ninth overall pick in this year’s Draft, will provide a challenge to Ojeleye that he has yet to see during this year’s Summer League.

Knox entered Wednesday, an off day for both teams, as the league’s third-leading scorer with an average of 23.3 points per game. He’s coming off of a 29-point performance against the top seed in the tournament, the Los Angeles Lakers.

Knox’s game has opened many eyes, including those of Celtics Summer League head coach Jay Larranaga, who is already well into prep mode for Thursday’s matchup against New York.

“He’s what the future of the NBA is,” Larranaga said of Knox. “A very long, athletic, skilled player that can play multiple positions. Can shoot the ball, can drive it, he’s getting to the foul line a ton. So being able to show our hands and not foul him on his driving situations will be really important.”

That last part is the challenge of which Ojeleye will be facing. The 6-foot-7 forward wants to stay in front of Knox by using the skills that he showcased this past season, but he also wants to pressure the ball in the manner Stevens will be seeking next season.

From Ojeleye’s perspective, that is a tightrope he will learn to balance as he faces off with Knox Thursday afternoon for the very first time.

“You have to feel it out,” said Ojeleye, who is well aware of Knox’s offensive aggressiveness that has led to an average of 7.3 free throws per game in Vegas. “Sometimes too much pressure is bad, but then backing off makes him too comfortable. So you have to feel it out during the game.”

Ojeleye went on to explain his overarching goal as he heads into the premier matchup.

“I think at the end of the day, you just want to make him take tough shots,” he said. “Guys are going to make tough shots, and if you can force him to take contested ones, that’s all you can do.”

That’s what Ojeleye and the Celtics hope to do Thursday afternoon, but attempting to do so will unquestionably be their toughest challenge to this point during Summer League play.

Knox has arguably been the most impressive player in the league thus far. The Celtics, meanwhile, led by the defensive prowess of Ojeleye, have been one of the best defensive teams in the league thus far.

That’s, folks, has the makings of a juicy matchup – one we all get to take a bite out of at 4:30 p.m. ET Thursday afternoon.

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Ojeleye-Knox Highlights Juicy Tourney Matchup Between C's, Knicks

LAS VEGAS – Winning is the golden ticket.

That’s the mindset that the Summer Celtics are taking into the tournament stage of the Las Vegas Summer League.

Tuesday marks the final day of preliminary play for each of the 30 teams taking part in the league. Each team plays three preliminary games, and some, like the Celtics, have already completed that stretch.

Following the completion of the preliminary round, all 30 teams will be seeded into a tournament, with the eventual champion being crowned Monday night.

Boston wants to play in that championship game, and it has shown thus far in Vegas that it has the talent to make such a run.

These Summer C’s are a talented group of individuals who are all seeking to find a niche in the NBA. From secure players such as Guerschon Yabusele, who has a guaranteed contract, to undrafted and unsigned free agents like Justin Bibbs, everyone on this team is searching to prove that they deserve a job and a role in the NBA.

The best way to secure those jobs and those roles, in their minds, is by playing as a team and winning in Las Vegas.

“That’s how we all get what we need,” said Semi Ojeleye. “I think there’s guys on NBA rosters, guys not on rosters, guys looking to sign a contract, so I think the way we all get exactly what we want is if we win. That’s how we stay here longer, and that’s how we show teams that we’re winners, and I think that’s what every GM or coach wants.”

To their credit, this group of Celtics has done a great job of showcasing the ability to blend together and win.

Boston stands at 2-1 after three games, and its lone loss felt like a bit of an aberration. The team scored an average of 97.0 points per game during its two victories, all while limiting its opponents to just 37.5 percent shooting from the field. During its lone loss, its offense sputtered to only 69 points.

The Celtics’ consistent effort at both ends of the court has the team sitting as the sixth seed out of 30 teams as the final day of preliminary action is set to begin Tuesday afternoon. The C’s are in solid position to earn a bye during the first round of the tournament stage, depending on what happens during Tuesday’s game.

Yabusele, who is averaging 12.3 PPG and 5.3 RPG through three contests, believes that the C’s have come a long way in Vegas in regard to becoming a true team that can compete at a high level. He saw where they were when they came together for practice for the first time July 1, and he sees where they are now in Las Vegas.

“We kind of know what everybody’s strengths are now,” he said Tuesday morning, before the team practiced at Palo Verde High School in Las Vegas. “We’re trying to make less mistakes on the court, play with each other, make plays for each other, and just try to be the best team we can be on the court.

“Right now, we’re doing a pretty good job, and we’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing.”

If that happens, the Summer Celtics may have a lengthy stay in Vegas. And if that happens, these players know that they’ll have made an impression upon every player, coach and executive around the league who is watching.

“Everybody realizes that we want to win,” said Ojeleye, “and if we win, that’s how we’ll get what we get out of this.”