The Celtics will face their Finals opponent in their 4th game at the Las Vegas Summer League. The Celtics and Mavericks will face off in one of the early games at 4:30 ET. The Mavericks have lost all 3 games so far in Las Vegas, losing to Miami, Memphis, and Utah. These two teams last met in Summer League in 2017 when the Mavericks won 91-74. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum both sat that game out with injuries.
As always in Summer League, it’s next to impossible to predict who will start as coaches try to mix and match players and to experiment with different lineups. After being the Celtics best player against the Heat, Jaden Springer sat out next two games, not even dressing for the games. After being the Celtics best player against the Lakers, Neemias Queta did not dress for the next game. It’s hard to guess who will start and who will play in this one.
The Celtics have fielded similar starting lineups in their 2 games so far with Davison, Scheierman, and Walsh starting all 3 games. Springer started against the heat and Peterson started against the Lakers. Queta started the first two games. They may start a similar lineup or one that is completely different. he Mavericks have started Lawson, Prosper, and Sharp in all 3 games. Williams and Ajinca have started two games. Miller, and Gortman have started one game.
D.J. MacLeay is coaching the Celtics Summer League team. The Celtics hired MacLeay in 2021 as a player enhancement coach on Ime Udoka’s staff. In July 2022 he was promoted to assistant coach. He stayed with the Celtics as an assistant after Udoka left. Assistant coach Jared Dudley is coaching the Mavericks. He played in the league for 15 years for 7 different teams before becoming an assistant coach for Dallas in 2021.
Boston Celtics Roster
Tyler Cook
JD Davison
Tristan Enaruna
Ron Harper, Jr
Jaelen House
Drew Peterson
Neemias Queta
Jahmi?us Ramsey
Baylor Scheierman
Jaden Springer
Killian Tillie
Jordan Walsh
Anton Watson
Head Coach
D.J. MacLeay
Starters Last Game
JD Davison
Baylor Scheierman
Jordan Walsh
Anton Watson
Killian Tillie
Players to Watch
Anton Watson
Watson was the 54th pick in the draft and should at least get a 2 way contract. While Watson doesn’t jump out at you, he has shown that he is an NBA player. He rarely makes mistakes and is usually in the right place at the right time. He is a good rebounder, plays good defense and hustles, bringing energy to the game. Against Charlotte, he finished with a team high 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 50% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc. In the first 2 games, the best player sat out the next game so we may or may not get to see Watson in this one. I hope we do because he is fun to watch.
Baylor Scheierman
Scheierman was the Celtics 30th pick in this year’s draft. He is known as a shooter but his performance in the first 3 games proves that he is a versatile player with great court vision. He has struggled with his shot but picked up his defense and played hard in other areas. One of the highlights of the game game against LA was when he dove into the 2nd row to save a ball from going out of bounds. That kind of hustle should earn him playing time. He finished the game against Charlotte with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals while shooting 30% from the field and 12.5% from beyond the arc. His shot should start to fall in one of these games.
Jahmi’us Ramsey
Ramsey was the 43rd pick by the Sacramento Kings in the 2020 draft. He has played mostly in the GLeague since then. He played well against the Hornets, finishing with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block while shooting 50% from the field and 40.3% from beyond the arc.
Dallas Mavericks Roster
Xavier Johnson
Brandon Williams
Alex Fudge
AJ Lawson
Melvin Ajinca
Olivier-Maxence Prosper
Jazian Gortman
Jarod Lucas
Warith Alatishe
Emanuel Miller
Justin Webster
Jamarian Sharp
Isaiah Whaley
TJ Clark
Ricky Lindo
Head Coach
Jared Dudley
Starters Last Game
Jazian Gortman
AJ Lawson
Emanuel Miller
Olivier-Maxence Prosper
Jamarian Sharp
Players to Watch
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AJ Lawson
Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images
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Jazian Gortman
Photo by Olivia Ramirez/NBAE via Getty Images
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Olivier-Maxence Prosper
Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images
AJ Lawson
Lawson has started all 3 games for the Mavericks so far in Summer League. He finished their last game with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal while shooting 57.1% from the field and 42.9% from beyond the arc.
Jazian Gortman
Gortman started just the most recent game for the Mavericks. He finished that game with 19 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 46.7% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper
Prosper started all 3 games so far for the Mavericks in Summer League. He finished the most recent game with 11 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 25% from the field but was 0-4 from beyond the arc.
Keys to the Game
Defense – Just as defense is the key to every game in the regular season and in the playoffs, it is also the key to winning in the Summer League. In their first game in Las Vegas, the Celtics allowed the Heat to shoot 61.5% from the field and 60% from beyond the arc. Against the Lakers, they clamped down on defense and held the Lakers to 36.4% from the field and 30.8% from beyond the arc. They held the undefeated Hornets to 43% from the field and 28% on threes. The Celtics need to continue to play tough defense in this game.
Rebound – Along with defense, rebounding is always a key to winning. The Celtics out-rebounded the Heat 35-29 in their first game. The Celtics out-rebounded the Lakers 38-35. They were out-rebounded 37-39 against the Hornets. The Celtics need to continue to crash the boards in this game if they want to get a win.
Improvement – In Summer League, improvement and evaluation are more important than winning. Both coaches are looking for improvement from returning players and they are evaluating all of the players on the roster for possible spots on the roster or 2 way contracts. The Celtics saw improvement in several players in their first 3 games and hopefully will see even more improvement in this game.
X-Factors
Chemistry and Experience
Both of these teams have played just 3 games in Summer League. Neither team played in the California Classic or the Salt Lake City Summer Leagues. The Mavericks team has 4 players from their roster: AJ Lawson, Brandon Williams, Alex Fudge, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper. They have 2 players with 2 years experience, 2 players with 1 year experience and 11 rookies on their team. The Celtics have 1 player with 3 years experience, 4 players with 2 years experience, 1 player with 1 year experience and 7 rookies.
