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The Boston Celtics improved their record in Las Vegas to 2-0 with an 70-64 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. It wasn’t as high-scoring a game as we’ve seen from this squad, but it still had plenty of good moments for the Celtics. The best of those moments was this loud finish from Jaylen Brown over two Blazers:
Oh my lord Jaylen Brown just buried some dude on the Blazers pic.twitter.com/GeZ6oV4LUr
— Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) July 10, 2017
Brown ultimately finished with another poor shooting night, as he hit just 4-of-13 from the floor for 13 points. He seems to be working on taking certain shots that weren’t a part of his repertoire in his rookie season. Summer League is for working on your game and Brown is doing just that.
Jayson Tatum had another decent night with 11 points on 4-of-11 from the field. He continues to impress with his turnaround jumper. He also kept up his solid work on the boards with 7 rebounds.
Ante Zizic played his best game of the summer, finishing with nine points and 11 rebounds. He had the pass to Brown on his big dunk. And he had several nice contests at the rim on defense, finishing with four blocks. He seems to be adjusting to the speed of the NBA game, but it will continue to take time. Part of the reason for signing Aron Baynes is to give Zizic time to develop.
Boston is well positioned with a second unit that will likely include Brown, Tatum and Zizic. All three will benefit from being able to develop on their own terms. With solid starters in front of them, it should take some pressure off the youngsters to perform right away.
One night after shooting well from behind the arc, Semi Ojeleye had some struggles. He hit 3-of-9 from the floor and all of his shots were three-pointers. He did continue to show his defensive versatility by once again guarding 1-5 on several trips.
Jabari Bird had his best game of the summer, scoring 9 points on 4-for-7 from the floor. Demetrius Jackson also played well with eight points and four assists.
Boston will take Monday off here in Las Vegas and will get back to action on Tuesday night vs the Philadelphia 76ers at 6:30 PM EST on ESPN2.