No. 3 pick Tatum continues to shine for the Celtics
SALT LAKE CITY » Danny Ainge sat with a look of satisfaction Wednesday as he watched Boston play the San Antonio Spurs in summer league action. It’s been quite a week for the Celtics president of basketball operations.
The franchise came to an agreement with Gordon Hayward on a four-year, $128 million deal on Tuesday. Ainge also watched rookie Jayson Tatum, the No. 3 overall pick, shine in his first two professional games at the Utah Jazz Summer League.
Fans heckled Ainge the game, but seemed to bother him Brad Stevens.
Tatum put on a show again, with 23 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and one steal in 31 minutes. The rookie showed a bit of everything on offense, including a tip-dunk that had the crowd gasping.
“He’s going to be a pretty good player in this league for a long time,” Celtics summer league coach Jerome Allen said. “As the games progress, I think I’m beyond feeling surprise by what he’s able to do on the floor, from a number of different spots on the floor. It’s good to see solid production out of him.”
The Spurs won 81-70, but Tatum’s performance was most important to Celtics fans. He hit the go-ahead jumper on Monday with 5.7 seconds remaining.
“I’m just trying to be wellrounded,” Tatum said. “There’s effort in diving to the floor and rebounding. It doesn’t take skill to do those things. I’m just giving that extra effort to help the team.”
Bryn Forbes paced the Spurs with a game-high 31 points, including a 6-for-8 effort from behind throughout nothing or coach the arc. Dejounte Murray struggled with five points on 0-for-10 shooting.
A look at the day league:
MOVING ON
in
Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey spoke with the media Wednesday for the first time since Hayward made his announcement. Lindsey said he hasn’t spoken with Hayward, but the two have texted back and forth. Lindsey said after the season the organization had contingency plans in case Hayward left. He said Wednesday that the timing of the decision is problematic for those plans. Most of the marquee free agents have made their decision by now and the Jazz are losing 21.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
BLAZING START
summer
The Dallas Mavericks have put together some impressive comebacks during the Orlando Pro Summer League this week.
But Wednesday they got off to a blistering start and never looked back against Oklahoma City. Dallas converted 7 of 8 from 3-point range in the first quarter to open up a 35-17 lead. Swingman Brandon Paul was 4 of 5 from 3-point range to finish the first quarter with 14 points.
The Mavericks weren’t as dominant the rest of the way but didn’t need to be as they cruised to 96-75 victory to head into Thursday’s championship day with a 4-0 record.
“We’ve really been putting the pedal to the metal since we started Summer League,” said Paul, who finished with 20 points primarily on the strength of 6-of-10 shooting from behind the 3-point arc. “We have a lot of guys that click and guys that get after it on defense.”
Paul, who has played overseas and in the NBA G League since going undrafted out of Illinois in 2013, is hoping to open some NBA eyes during Summer League play. He was certainly impressive Wednesday with six rebounds, four assists, three steals and a blocked shot while giving the Mavs a plus-24 advantage during the nearly 26 minutes he spent on the floor.
“That’s something I’ve been trying to prove to these scouts, that I’m a consistent player,” Paul said. “I think I definitely showed that.”
ROOKIE CHANCE
Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy told rookie guard Luke Kennard that how he practices and plays during the Orlando Pro Summer League period would tell him if he is deserving of an opportunity to compete for a rotation spot come training camp.
He wanted to see how the No. 12 overall selection out of Duke could handle himself defensively against quicker and faster players. Consider Van Gundy impressed.
But there are no of course.
“He has a chance, he has a chance to play. I’ve seen that,” Van Gundy said of the 6-foot-6 wing player. “How far he comes through the rest of the summer, in training camp and during the season, we’ll see.”
Kennard scored 14 points, including nine of the Pistons’ 11 points during a stretch, during an 87-82 victory over Charlotte. He has averaged 15.5 points through the first four games of the Orlando Pro Summer League.
KUDOS
guarantees,
• Oklahoma City 7-foot center Dakari Johnson has been one of the most dominant scorers during Summer League play, and has showed his versatility. The former second-round pick out of Kentucky brought the ball up the floor on some offensive sets and even
• Detroit second-year post player Henry Ellenson is looking far more comfortable his second go-around in the Orlando Summer League. The former first-round pick out of Marquette is leading the Pistons with 20.5 points and seven rebounds per game while shooting nearly 47 percent from the floor during the first four games.
• While Paul put up big numbers Wednesday, Luis Montero was also impressive off the Dallas bench. Montero, who has bounced around the NBA since going undrafted in 2015, went 5 attacked from the perimeter. for 5 from 3-point range to finish with 16 points while grabbing five rebounds and giving out five assists in a plus-22 performance.
• Orlando Magic point guard Kalin Lucas had a strong game with 20 points and seven assists during the win over the New York Knicks.
NEEDS WORK
Thunder point guard Semaj Christon had his best scoring game of the Summer League on Wednesday with 16 points to go with eight assists. But he also had seven turnovers in the loss to Dallas. The Mavericks had just six turnovers as a team.