Celtics.com |
Las Vegas - The Celtics grabbed their fourth win in a row in Las Vegas by burning the undefeated Miami Heat 101-69 on Tuesday night.
C's second round draft pick, Marcus Thornton led all scorers with 21 points (5-of-8 shooting). The guard, who was selected 45th overall last month, was averaging nearly seven minutes a game in the previous three outings before playing 19 minutes in last night's victory and also going a perfect 9-of-9 from the charity stripe.
“He hasn’t really had [a breakout game] yet, and I wanted to give him a chance early,” head coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “He can play with the ball and he can play without it. He’s really explosive with the ball.”
Five players finished in double figures for the Celtics including undrafted rookie Jonathan Holmes who chipped in with 14 points, and 28th overall pick R. J. Hunter, who continues to shoot the ball well from deep, added 13 points off the bench.
Holmes scored nine points in the opening ten minutes of the first quarter, as the Celtics led 22-16 and never looked back. The Heat trailed by 10 to begin the final period before Marcus Smart hit a jumper to begin a 11-0 run and push their lead 76-55, the largest of the game at that point.
In the end the Celtics shot 58-percent from the field (45 percent for the game) in the fourth (5-of-6 from behind the arc), while limiting the Heat to only 34.8 percent shooting on the night.
With this win the C's are now 3-0 in Las Vegas summer league, and of the 24 teams only five remain undefeated. The Celtics have earned a bye in the league's playoff, and won't know their opponent until Thursday when they play again.
Joel Pavón
Twitter:CausewayStreet
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