Jordan Walsh of the Boston Celtics plays for the Miami Heat on Saturday, July 8, 2023, in the Cox
Pavilion in the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The game is part of the NBA Summer League. Las
Vegas Review-Journal/Madeline .
The Summer Celtics showed some life, but they weren’t able to climb out of another double-digit hole in
their penultimate game in Las Vegas. The Celtics fell 97-89 to the Knicks on Friday, falling to 1-3 in
summer action.
The Knicks ran out to an early lead, maintaining that advantage going into the second half. But multiple
runs from the C’s in the second half cut down the lead, letting them at least within striking distance in
the game. The Knicks then closed out the victory in Vegas.
Next up, the Celtics take on the Magic at 6:30 p.m. ET in Vegas to wrap up Summer League action. Here
are four takeaways from Boston’s loss to New York:
Rookie watch: Jordan Walsh turned multiple heads after a game-high 25 points in the win over the
Lakers on Wednesday. Walsh has put together a solid Summer League campaign overall, though his
numbers took a dip in Friday’s loss. Walsh finished with 13 points on 3-for-11 shooting, though he still
had some nice moments.
Nice bounce-back: Dalano Banton didn’t exactly have a great Celtics debut, finishing with just 12
points on 3-for-19 shooting against the Lakers. But the new C’s signee impressed Friday, putting up 18
points and nine rebounds on 7-for-12 shooting, though he did have four turnovers. That was more like it
from Banton as he has a chance to push for a rotation spot after signing a two-year deal with the Celtics
in free agency.
Checking on returners: Justin Champagnie got hot as he shot 4-for-9 on 3-pointers, putting up 14
points in his 26 minutes. He’s struggled for bits, but that was a better showing Friday. Elsewhere, two-
way signee JD Davison had a quiet game with 11 points and four assists on 4-for-8 shooting. After just
one turnover against the Lakers, Davison had four giveaways Friday.
Pushing for a deal: Perhaps the biggest winner from Summer League thus far has been Jay Scrubb.
There weren’t too much expectations for him going into Vegas, but he continues to put up numbers in
his opportunities off the bench. It was more of the same Friday as Scrubb finished with 16 points on 5-
for-11 shooting. With the Celtics having two open two-way spots, they could be looking to sign Scrubb
there.
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