Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Neemias Queta comes up big in Celtics Summer League victory over Lakers


The Celtics got their first win of Summer League play by beating the Los Angeles Lakers 88-74 Monday night in Las Vegas.

Neemias Queta finished with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-10 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free throw line to go along with eight rebounds and three blocks.
"Guys want me to get out there and just be effective [and] impactful defensively in the paint," Queta told reporters. "And even more on the perimeter, too. They're getting me to switch a lot more on the perimeter, stay in front of guards.

"So, that's also one of the things I wanted to work on coming into Summer League, and definitely staying out of foul trouble. And we're on the right path."
Jahmi'us Ramsey added 13 points off the bench on 3-of-4 from behind the arc and Drew Peterson had a bounce back performance with 12 points on 4-of-8 from 3-point territory and five rebounds in a starting role, as he spoke about his two-way contract following the win.
"Just getting a little bigger. Stuff like that. And like I said, I'm taking in everything I can from the older guys and doing what I can to compete," Peterson said in his postgame presser. "Shooting, defensively, I like to be a do-it-all guy. So, anything I can do to help the team. Tonight, it happened to be shooting, and anything I can do out there to help is my goal."
JD Davison (seven assists) and Jordan Walsh (six rebounds) -- who would like to forget his play from Saturday's 119-114 loss to the Heat -- each netted nine points respectively.
"I think, in general, he was just playing within himself," head coach DJ MacLeay said of Walsh. "Like, he had a better way about him today. He was committed on the defensive end, which I think is where he's going to be at his best.

"And I really have given him a lot of credit. He kind of embraced a failure of the other night, and he just took it on the chin, and played much, much better. Played much more within himself, and much more like the guy we know and he's been for the last couple of months."
Dalton Knecht led the Lakers with 19 points and Maxwell Lewis added 13 points while rookie Bronny James went 1-of-5, including missing all three of his 3-point attempts to put up only two points, three rebounds and an assist in the Lakers second straight loss.

The Celtics (1-1) next Summer League match-up is Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets (2-0), as NBA TV has the tip-off at 5:30 pm ET.


Joel Pavón




Photo used courtesy of Getty Images

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