This is the fifth and final game for both the Celtics and the Magic. The Magic last played on Thursday, while the Celtics are playing in back to back games. The Celtics have won just one game, over the Lakers. The Magic have lost all 4 games they have played so far.
The Celtics are coached by assistant coach Tony Dobbins, who has been an assistant with the Celtics since 2020, under Brad Stevens, Ime Udoka and Joe Mazzulla. He served as a video coordinator for the Celtics during the 2019-20 season. The Magic are coached by Dylan Murphy. Murphy was Orlando’s basketball operations analyst from 2018-20. He has been an assistant coach there for the past 3 seasons. He will coach their G-League team next season.
As with every Summer League, it’s difficult to predict a starting lineup as coaches are looking to try different lineups and combination of players and they want to get an idea of what each player brings to the table. I’ve listed the starting lineup for each team from their first Summer League game. For the most part, evaluating players to see which ones might fit with the roster is more important to these coaches than winning the games.
Celtics Roster
J.D. Davison #20
Kamar Baldwin #26
Jordan Walsh #27
Jay Scrubb #29
Mychal Mulder #37
Justin Bean #38
Vincent Valerio-Bodin #41
Sam Griesel #45
Olek Balcerowski #50
Udoka Azubuike #51
Reggie Kisoonlal #55
Justin Champagnie #99
Delano Banton #43
Starters Last Game
PG: J.D.Davison
SG: Delano Banton
SF: Justin Champagnie
PF: Jordan Walsh
C: Olek Balcerowski
Head Coach
Tony Dobbins
Players to Watch
Jordan Walsh
Walsh was the Celtics 38th pick in the 2023 draft. He is 6’7” with a 7’3” wingspan. He averaged 7.1 ppg for Arkansas last season on 43% shooting. He can defend 1-5 and with and is unselfish and a hard worker. He just signed a 4 year $7.6 million contract with the Celtics. Over the first 4 games, he averaged 17.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.0 steals.
Jay Scrubb
Scrubb was the 55th pick by the Brooklyn Nets in 2020. He has played for the LA Clippers, Agua Caliente Clippers, Orlando Magic and the Lakeland Magic over the past 3 seasons. Over the first 4 games, he averaged 16.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.
Delano Banton
Banton was the 46th pick in the 2021 draft by the Toronto Raptors. He played 2 years for the Raptors and just signed a 2 year contract with the Celtics. He averaged 4.6 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game with the Raptors last season while shooting 42.3% overall, 29.4% from 3 and 70.8% from the line. He missed the first two Summer League games with a finger injury but averaged 15.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in the last two.
Magic Roster
Anthony Black
Caleb Houstan
Kevon Harris
Jett Howard
Tyger Campbell
JC Butler
Amauri Hardy
Au’Diese Toney
D.J.Wilson
Tyler Hall
Quinndary Wetherspoon
Drake Jeffries
Elijah Hughes
Dexter Dennis
Robert Baker II
Malcolm Hill
Montez Mathis
Jamal Bey
Malik Ellison
Davion Warren
Kai Sotto
Starters Last Game
PG: Tyger Campbell
SG: Quinndary Weatherspoon
SF: Au’Diese Toney
PF: Dexter Dennis
C: D.J. Wilson
Head Coach
Dylan Murphy
Players to Watch
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Caleb Houstan
Photo by Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images
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Jett Howard
Photo by Louis Grasse/Getty Images
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Anthony Black
Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
Caleb Houstan
Houstan was the 32nd pick in the 2022 draft by the Magic. He played for Orlando in last year’s Summer League. He is averaging 15.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists for Orlando so far.
Jett Howard
Howard was the 11th pick in the 2023 draft by the Orlando Magic. He is the son of former NBA player Juwan Howard. He is averaging 13.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.03 steals per game for the Magic in Summer League.
Anthony Black
Black was the 6th pick in the 2023 draft by the Orlando Magic. Black is 6-foot-7 and can, as of right now, already play three positions. He is Black is a high basketball IQ, highly-switchable player you can pretty much plug into any type of lineup. He is averaging 11 points, 8.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
Keys to the Game
Shooting – The Celtics will be looking for players who can shoot from the outside and also who can finish at the basket. They will also be looking for players who can shore up the wings and point guard spots. The Celtics scoring has been up and down but at times they have struggled to score. Hopefully someone will step up in this game and have a good scoring game.
Defense – The Celtics have put a premium on playing defense in the past and they will be looking to see which Summer Celtics fit that mold. JD Davison has already said that he plans to show he can be a dog on the defensive end and Jordan Walsh is also a very good defender. Players will have to show that they can play tough defense if they hope to get a spot on the Celtics or a two way contract.
Take Care of the Ball – The Celtics are averaging 19.3 turnovers per game while the Magic are averaging just 17.0 turnovers per game. The Celtics need to do a better job of taking care of the ball.
Rebound – Rebounding is always important. The Celtics were out-rebounded 38-22 in their game against the Heat. They did much better in the second game, out-rebounding the Wizards 43-31. They out-rebounded the Lakers 52-39. The Celtics out rebounded the Knicks 36-31. The Celtics need to continue to crash the boards if they want to win this game.
X-Factors
It’s Summer League – While teams want to win, every one of these teams is pretty much cobbled together from undrafted players, end of bench players, and G-League players. They have had limited practice time for the most part and so it’s hard to tell how each team will play and which teams will dominate. One thing for sure is that every player is trying to get noticed and earn a place on a roster and so we may see some players surprise us.
