The Celtics won their 2nd to last Summer League game 82-76 over the Sacramento Kings. It was Hugo Gonzalez leading the way with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists while Chris Cenac Jr. had 10 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks.
The Celtics started Milos Uzan, John Tonje, Hugo Gonzalez, Tucker DeVries and Amari Williams. Dillon Mitchell did not play in this game for rest. Darius Acuff Jr., Nique Clifford and Maxime Raynaud did not play. Sacramento started Isaiah Stevens, Emanuel Sharpe, Alex Karaban, Jonathan Mogbo and Dylan Cardwell.
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Boston signed both Uzan and DeVries earlier in the day to training camp contracts, or Exhibit 10 contracts per CelticsBlog alum Keith Smith.
It was a slow start to the game, but Celtics first round pick Chris Cenac Jr. came off of the bench and hit a three right away.
It was a slow start for the Kings, who started the game 1-17 as the Celtics took a 13-2 lead.
The Celtics lead the Kings 13-4 at the end of the 4th quarter. The Kings had the lowest scoring quarter in the history Summer League according to ESPN. Hugo Gonzales led the Celtics in scoring with 4 points.
The Kings matched their 1st quarter total in the first 2 minutes of the 2nd quarter.
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Sacramento’s offense opened up after that, they cut the Celtics lead to 20-17 with 5:25 left in the 2nd quarter.
The Celtics ended the quarter hot. They scored 19 points in the last 5:45 of the quarter and led the Kings 39-28 at halftime. Gonzalez led the way with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists while John Tonje had 10 points and Chris Cenac Jr. had 2 blocks.
We all like to talk about Cenac and Gonzalez who have both played very well, but I have also enjoyed the way John Tonje has played. He came over at the trade deadline for Chris Boucher and a 2nd round pick, but remains unsigned after the Celtics didn’t tender him a qualifying offer. He has played well in Summer League and had 18 points on 6/10 shooting and 3/7 from three in this game.
The Celtics led the Kings by 8 at the end of three quarters, 57-49. Gonzalez was still leading the team with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists while Cenac had 8 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks off of the bench.
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The Celtics defense was great in this game, especially at the rim with Cenac and Amari Williams protecting the backline. Williams’ didn’t have a great stat line, but I thought he really impacted the game on both ends.
The Celtics put together an 11-0 run to take a 74-58 lead with about 3 and a half minutes to go in the game. Gonzalez led the charge, with 7 of the 11 points but their defense also took over.
Then, the Kings scored 11 points in a row as the Celtics looked to put the game away while expanding their point differential.
Milos Uzan had a nice and-1 to put the Celtics up 8 but 2 Kings threes put the Kings back within 2. Uzan had a nice layup to put the Celtics back up 4.
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The Celtics won the game 82-76 after John Tonje made a few free throws to seal it.
The Celtics shot 38% from the field and 29% from three while Sacramento shot 32% from the field and 31% from three. Boston’s next game will be Friday or Saturday with opponent and time TBD. It remains to be seen whether or not the Celtics will make the playoffs, but it seems unlikely.
