Celtics Pick Up Comeback Win Over Lakers

On the back of second round pick Jordan Walsh, the Boston Celtics picked up their first win of the 2023 summer league campaign in comeback fashion over rival Los Angeles Lakers who came into the game at 2-0.

After a disastrous first half where the Celtics came out slow and couldn’t get in any rhythm from three, while the Lakers seemingly couldn’t miss, they found themselves down 53-43 at halftime.

Jordan Walsh

The game quickly changed in the third quarter when Walsh, who had been struggling offensively shooting 4-12 through the first two quarters, took over the game and led the Celtics to a 31-17 third quarter win.

Walsh scored 12 points in the third alone and did so from all levels on the floor. Not to mention his hustle and defense was dominant all game long.

He ultimately finished with 25 points and 8 rebounds on 50% shooting, which has been the biggest positive of summer league thus far since the biggest question mark about his game coming in was his offensive ability.

He is now averaging a team high 18 points per game on 44% shooting and 37% from three, through three games. 

Help From Others

To help Jordan Walsh, was Jay Scrubb, who has quietly been one of the Celtics best players so far through three summer league outings. He finished with 18 points on shooting. That now has him averaging 17 a game.

JD Davison also had his best game of his summer league campaign, scoring 11 points to go along with 11 rebounds, six assists and most importantly, only one turnover.

A huge performance after struggling, especially in the turnover department through the first two games.

While those three stepped up and were key to making the comeback, another major swing was the rebounding, the Celtics snagged 52 rebounds, 13 more than the Lakers 39. With those, came 13 offensive rebounds leading to second chance opportunities. The Lakers only had six.

Next Up

Following the win, the Celtics have one game left and still have one roster spot to fill out for all the hopefuls. JD Davison has already acquired one of the two-way contracts allowing him to play the same role he did last year, which was bouncing between main and the bigs if needed.

Justin Champagnie is likely to be back as well, after averaging 13 through three games and playing the season with the main team last year.

Jay Scrubb has implemented himself as a guy who can end up grabbing a two-way contract, whether with Boston or elsewhere.

The next and final Celtics summer league game comes against the New York Knicks on Friday night. Hopefully it comes with another win and another promising Jordan Walsh performance.