Vegas Summer League - Boston Celtics vs San Antonio Spurs 7/18/15

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Boston Celtics (4-0) vs San Antonio Spurs (3-1)
Saturday, July 18, 2015
4:00 PM ET
NBA Tv, Summer League Pass
Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV

The Celtics and Spurs meet for the second time in Summer League and for the first time in Vegas.   The last time these teams met,  the Celtics got an 85-71 win. That was the first of their current 4 game win streak.  Both teams were 1-2 in Utah.   

The Celtics will miss Marcus Smart, who is out with the hand injury he suffered in the last game against Portland.  Smart remained in Vegas and will be cheering his team on.  James Young returned in the last game but still struggled in the game.  It would be a good time for Young to have a break out game. 

The Spurs lost their first game in Vegas 78-73 and then won 3 in a row after that over Milwaukee, Portland and Brooklyn.  The Celtics are looking to stay undefeated in Vegas.  The team that wins will go on to play at 6 pm on Sunday while the loser goes home.  The game will be televised on NBA-TV live at 4:00 PM ET and will also be on Summer League Pass. 




Celtics Roster
49 Fair, C.J. F 6-8 215 Syracuse/USA
68 Holmes, Jonathan F 6-8 240 Texas/USA
28 Hunter, R.J. G 6-6 190 Georgia State/USA
55 Mickey, Jordan F 6-8 235 Louisiana State/USA
48 Miller, Malcolm F 6-7 210 Holy Cross/USA
47 O'Neale, Royce F 6-6 215 Baylor/USA
12 Rozier, Terry G 6-1 190 Louisville/USA
70 Sampson III, Ralph C 6-11 244 Minnesota/USA
36 Smart, Marcus G 6-4 220 Oklahoma State/USA
27 Thornton, Marcus G 6-4 190 William & Mary/USA
46 Walden, Corey G 6-2 189 Eastern Kentucky/USA
13 Young, James G-F 6-6 215 Kentucky/USA
20 Holyfield, Michael C 6-11    270    Sam Houston State

Players to Watch
Jordan Mickey. 
Mickey has played very well in Summer League and he is averaging a double double in Vegas with 12.4 PPG and 10.8 RPG.  He is also averaging 2.5 BPG and shooting 51.3%.  The Celtics are working to try to sign him long term and he is proving worth it in these games.  He will need to continue to produce at a high level for the Celtics to continue to win. 

Terry Rozier
Rozier was the hero in the Celtics win over the Blazers when he scored the team's last 8 points in clutch fashion.  He will need to come up even bigger in this game with Marcus Smart out with the hand injury. 

RJ Hunter
With Smart out, Hunter will need to find his range and have a good scoring game.  He is averaging 14.0 points per game and has shown that he can make the pass when he needs to as well. 




Spurs Roster
1    Anderson, Kyle^+    G-F    6-9    230    UCLA/USA
55    Atkins, Darion^+    F-C    6-8    234    Virginia/USA
45    Bertans, Dairis^+    G    6-4    190    Bilbao Basket/Latvia
25    Blackshear, Wayne^+    F    6-5    215    Louisville/USA
56    Cherry, Will^+    G    6-1    181    Montana/USA
0    Davies, Brandon+    F    6-10    240    BYU/USA
19    Eddie, Jarrell+    F    6-7    220    Virginia Tech/USA
42    Graham, Treveon^+    G-F    6-5    216    VCU/USA
28    Jean-Charles, Livio^+    F    6-9    230    ASVEL Basket/France
26    Lalanne, Cady^+    C    6-9    242    UMass/Haiti
35    Ndoye, Youssou+    C    7-0    250    St. Bonaventure/Senegal
30    Scott, Shannon^+    G    6-1    181    Ohio State/USA
16    Simmons, Jonathan+    G    6-6    195    Houston/USA
36    Wolters, Nate+    G    6-4    190    South Dakota State/USA

Players to Watch
Kyle Anderson
Anderson is second in Vegas in scoring with 22.3 points along with 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.30 steals, and 1.30 blocks.  It will be key to stop Anderson for the Celtics to get a win. 

Jonathan Simmons
Simmons came up big for the Spurs in their win over the Nets to get them to this game with 18 points.  He is averaging 14.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 3.8 APG in Vegas. 

Cady LaLanne
LaLanne is manning the middle for the Spurs Summer League team.  He is averaging 7.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG and 1.4 BPG.  When these teams met in Utah,  LaLanne scored 13 points. 

Keys to the Game
Rebound
The Celtics were badly out-rebounded in their first two games in Utah but since then have done much better on the boards in their three wins.  They need to continue to box out and crash the boards going after every rebounds.

Defense
The Celtics have to make defense a priority.  Defense wins games, whether in Summer League, the regular season, or the playoffs.   The Celtics have some good defenders on the team and must play team defense to get the win.

Team Play
Both teams have had a chance to gel and grow together as a team.  They both played 3 games in Utah and 4 games in Vegas.   The Celtics have played well as a team and need  to continue to play as a team and work together.   They can't grow complacent and relapse into "hero ball."

Don't Die by the Three
The Celtics have some good 3 point shooters but sometimes they just don't fall.    If the 3's are falling, that's great.  If they aren't they need to get into the paint and go to the hoop. 

Revenge vs Over Confident
The Celtics beat the Spurs to start their 5 game win streak in Summer League play.  The Spurs will be looking to avenge that first loss.  The Celtics can't be over confident and let up because they beat them once already.   

X-Factors
Poise and Confidence
The Celtics need to go into this game with confidence but not be over confident.  They need to show that they can come up clutch in a big game.  The team that plays with more poise and confidence down the stretch will get the win.