Preview: Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics SL Game #2

The Celtics face the Cleveland Cavaliers for their second game in the Las Vegas Summer League. They won their first game as they easily beat the Sixers 96-82. The Cavaliers are playing their third game. They lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves 85-75 in the first game and then faced the Bulls on Sunday night.

As with every Summer League game, it’s more about evaluation than wins and losses, although winning is much better. The Celtics started Edwards, Waters, Harrison, Yabusele, and Williams in the first game and Coach Scott Morrison tried to spread the minutes across the roster with only Jon Elmore playing fewer than 10 minutes.

The Cavaliers started Mitrou-Long, Wade and Bolden in both games. Rahkman and Windler rounded out the starters in the first game while Newman and Zoosman started the second. 6 players did not play in the first game for head coach Antonio Lang and 5 players sat out the second game.

Romeo Langford, the 14th pick in the draft for the Boston Celtics is with the team but is not expected to play as he rehabs from off season surgery on his thumb. Max Strus, who reportedly signed a two-way contract with the Celtics, is listed on the roster, but was not listed in the box score for the first game and is not on the injury list. .

Darius Garland, the 5th pick in the draft for the Cavaliers listed on their roster but did not play in either of their first two games and is questionable for the rest of Summer League. Kevin Porter, Jr, the 30th pick in this year’s draft, is listed as day to day with a hip injury.

Celtics Roster
29 Carsen Edwards G 6’1”
38 Jon Elmore G 6’3”
55 Tacko Fall C 7’6”
43 Javonte Green G 6’4”
26 Aaron Harrison G/F 6’4”
45 Romeo Langford G/F 6’6”
63 Chinanu Onuaku C 6’9”
48 Kendrick Ray G 6’2”52
Max Strus G/F 6’6”
51 Tremont Waters G 5’11”40
Grant Williams F 6’7”
44 Robert Williams III C 6’10”30
Guerschon Yabusele F 6’8”

Head Coach
Scott Morrison

Players to Watch
Carsen Edwards- Carsen Edwards was a spark plug for the Celtics in their first game. He was a pest on defense and sparked the offense with his quick release. He led the Celtics with 20 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 steals.
Grant Williams- Williams came off the bench and was a leader on the court, talking constantly and helping players to get in position. He finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Robert Williams III - Williams was active and showed the athleticism that has Celtics fans anxious for him to be a bigger part of the rotation. He finished with 9 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Tacko Fall- It’s impossible not to watch Tacko when he is on the court. He is a very large human being. He is still raw, but shows much promise and is much more mobile than most expect from someone 7’6” tall. He finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 block in 10 minutes.

Cavaliers Roster
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman F 6’7”
Jaron Blossomgame F 6’7”
Marques Bolden C 6’11”
Phil Booth G 6’3”
Sandy Cohen III G 6’6”
Darius Garland G 6’2”
Jalen Hudson F 6’6”
Anthony Lawrence II G 6’7”
Naz Mitrou-Long G 6’4”
Malik Newman G 6’3”
Dylan Osetkowski F 6’9”
Kevin Porter, Jr G 6’6”
JaCorey Williams F 6’8”
Dean Wade PF 6’2”
Dylan Windler G/F 6’7”
Yovel Zoosman G/F 6’7”

Head Coach
Antonio Lang

Players to Watch
Dylan Windler - Windler led the Cavs with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists in their loss to the Timberwolves in their first game. He did not play in the second game. He was the 26th pick in this year’s draft.
Naz Mitrou-Long - Mitrou-Long was a 2 way player with the Jazz last season. He had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in the Cavs first game and 21 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists in the second.
JaCoury Williams - Williams went undrafted in the 2017 draft and played last season with the Canton Charge. He had 10 points and 6 rebounds in the Cavs’ first game and 11 points and 4 rebounds in the second game.
Dean Wade - Wade did not play in the first game, but played well in the second game with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

Key Matchup

Grid View

• Carsen Edwards Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
• Naz Mitrou-Long Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Carsen Edwards vs Naz Mitrou-Long
The Celtics high scoring guard and sparkplug vs the Cavaliers’ high scoring guard. Hopefully Edwards will bring the same energy on both offense and defense.

Keys to the Game
Energy - The Celtics were fun to watch in their first game because they played with energy and hustled for loose balls and rebounds and kept the ball moving. Hopefully we will see that same energy in this game.
Defense - I know it’s just Summer League but we saw some good defense from the Celtics in their first game and whether it is Summer League or the Finals, defense wins games!