The Celtics won their second-straight at Summer League with a 89-84 comeback victory over the Charlotte Hornets Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
Rookie big man Anton Watson got the start in place of Neemias Queta (DNP), to finish with 15 points on 6-of-12 from the field and collected five rebounds. The No. 54 overall pick in last month's NBA Draft continues to improve over the past three outings and was crucial in the C's late rally, including a jumper to tie the game at 77 with 2:59 left to play.
"He's already an NBA level defender," head coach DJ MacLeay said of Watson. "He has things that he's gotta work on on that side of the floor that we're trying to help him with, but if he can prove that he can knock downs those shots and shows an awareness to take them without a hesitation, he's gonna be a really good player for us and he provides a lot of versatility because of his switchability and his ability to guard the basketball. In general, we're really trying to build those habits in him and trying to encourage him. As you saw today, he made a couple. It looks good. I think that he can really shoot it and he needs to continue to believe that and shoot every time he gets an opportunity."
Jahmi'us Ramsey picked up where he left off in the Celtics 88-94 win over the Lakers to also net 15 points and dish out five assists, while this year's No. 30th overall pick in Baylor Shceierman hit two key free throws down the stretch to record 12 points for Boston -- who are now 2-1 in Summer League play.
Jaelen House, Tyler Cook and Ron Harper Jr. all provided sparks scoring eight points respectively, as part of the second unit -- playing in crunch time to rally and secure the win -- while the Celtics went on a 17-7 run in the final four minutes.
"I thought it was awesome," he MacLeay said. "We've been talking about finding joy, and that game wasn't going our way for long stretches, but one of the things we try to preach constantly is staying in the fight, continuing to work, having that mindset, and I thought Jaelen House, Tristan and Tyler Cook came in and they were great in terms of providing energy."
Zavier Simpson was the lead man for Charlotte -- that failed to go 3-0 in Vegas -- as he notched 19 points, six assists, Matt Morgan scored 15 points off the bench and Nick Smith Jr. chipped in 12 points, six rebounds in the loss.
The Celtics will look to win three in a row when they face the Dallas Mavericks (0-3) Friday afternoon and ESPNU has the tip-off at 4:30 pm ET.
Joel Pavón
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