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5 Thoughts On Celtics Summer League Win vs.
Kings: Amari Williams, Chris Cenac Jr., Hugo Gonzalez The Boston Celtics wrapped up their scheduled portion of the Las Vegas Summer League with an 82-76 win over the Sacramento Kings.
There is still one more game y with an 82-76 win over the Sacramento Kings.
There is still one more game yet to be determined, depending on where the Celtics fall in the playoff picture.
The Celtics got big scoring games from Hugo Gonzalez and John Tonje, but their centers also looked pretty good, too.
Rookie Dillon Mitchell was given the night off.
The stats wont show it , but I was really impressed with how Williams bounced back after aI could feel Williams confidence growing as the game went on.He started out playing normally and then by the end of the game he was leading the break after grab-and-go rebounds, throwing no-look passes, and getting guys easy looks.told reporters in Las Vegas.Hes creative, he can find you, and if youre moving and open, hell get the ball to where it needs to go.
Oddly, this tells the same story as his rough last game does.
When hes confident, he plays at a pace that can make Celtics fans say irrational things about his future.
When hes not, its easy to wonder if this is his final year with the team.is developing a little chemistry with Williams.Heads up to the folks in Portland ..
these two guys might have a little fun together this season.
Cenac Jr.
ran a hand-off from Williams that looked pretty good, which is an important element for Cenac Jr.
to hone at the next level.
I dont expect it this season, but he could eventually give Boston some real size at the four and play off one of Bostons bigger centers on offense while providing rebounding and rim protection defensively.Cenac had a double-double and blocked two more shots, bringing his four-game summer total to 11.
He blocked 18 shots in 37 college games.
They changed this to an offensive foul on Chris Cenac, but I absolutely love how he goes for poster dunks every gameHes been hunting poster dunks his whole time in Vegas.
He plays with a fearlessness that will serve him well.Hes talked openly about feeling like he went too low in the draft and how he wants to prove people wrong.
This kind of attitude and approach is exactly what he needs.
Gonzalez finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists, a stat line you want to see from an NBA rotation player in a summer league setting.I thought he might be done after playing the first two games, but he got one more run in and it was worth it.
The overall percentages still werent great , but what was important is that he got on a heater after a 1-4 start in the first quarter.
He shot 50% from the field and 43% from 3 after that slow start.
Williams already has one of the three two-way spots.Im extraordinarily confident that Dillon Mitchell will get one because they just drafted him, hes played pretty well, and his picture is all over Celtics social media.
If he doesnt, it would be a rug pull that would make crypto scammers proud.
That leaves John Tonje and Milos Uzan as the final two competitors, and I have to lean Tonjes way.
He has definitely played better than Uzan.Both are older players , so unless the Celtics feel like Tonje is closer to his ceiling or Uzan is more multi-dimensional, then Tonje is the guy.
He can be a lights-out shooter and there's always room for someone like that on a team.
Uzan said after the game that hell be at training camp.Its possible Boston will take the two-way decision into October, but at the very least Uzan should get an opportunity to play with the Maine Celtics.
John Karalis is a 20-year veteran of Celtics coverage and was nominated for NSMA's Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year in 2019.
He has hosted the Locked On Celtics podcast since 2016 and has written two books about the Celtics.
John was born and raised in Pawtucket, RI.He graduated from Shea High School in Pawtucket, where he played football, soccer, baseball, and basketball and was captain of the baseball and basketball teams.
John graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism and was a member of their Gold Key Honor Society.
He was a four-year starter and two-year captain of the Mens Basketball team, and remains one of the school's top all-time scorers, and Emerson's all-time leading rebounder.He is also the first Emerson College player to play professional basketball.
John started his career in television, producing and creating shows since 1997.
He spent nine years at WBZ, launching two different news and lifestyle shows before ascending to Executive Producer and Managing Editor.
He then went to New York, where he was a producer and reporter until 2018.John is one of Bostons original Celtics bloggers, creating RedsArmy.com in 2006.
In 2018, John joined the Celtics beat full-time for MassLive.com and then went to Boston Sports Journal in 2021, where he covered the Celtics for five years.
He has hosted the Locked On Celtics podcast since 2016, and it currently ranks as the #1 Boston Celtics podcast on iTunes and Spotify rankings.
He is also one of the co-hosts of the Locked on NBA podcast.