Anton Watson received a spot start. Jaelen House practiced crunch time. While Neemias Queta, Jaden Springer, and Drew Peterson waited as the Celtics neared the end of their summer bench, Tyler Cook, Tristan Enaruna, and Cook all played important minutes in Las Vegas against a Hornets club headed by Nick Smith Jr., James Banks III, and Zavier Simpson.
Watson hit a game-tying baseline jumper, House made four late free throws, and Jahmi’us Ramsey’s pull-up three with 1:07 left in the fourth quarter gave Boston their second straight win, 86-82. Watson finished with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block. Ramsey added 15 more, leading all Celtics scorers.
JD Davison, Jordan Walsh, and Baylor Scheierman were left to head the Celtics’ offense, while Anton Watson and Killian Tillie were added to the frontcourt starting lineup. Boston’s younger players continued to have inconsistent offensive success. Walsh didn’t make a field goal early, split four free throw attempts late in the second quarter and turned the ball over twice, including a skyrocketing dunk attempt over Brandon Slater that resulted in an offensive foul.
Watson built on his more subtle success from his first two games of Summer League, which featured 6-for-10 shooting from the field with only two three-point attempts. He took the first shot of the game Wednesday after a Davison kick-out and drained it. Davison set up two Killie threes and hit a posting hook in the lane to give Boston an early 8-4 lead. By the end of the first quarter, the Hornets had tied the game at 19. They ran in transition and got to the free throw line. Scheierman started slowly, missing a pair of three-pointers and free throws.
In the second, Ron Harper Jr., Davison, and Walsh scored to stay up with Charlotte’s relentless transition onslaught. Smith nailed three deep shots for the Hornets, giving Charlotte a 39-32 advantage entering the second half. Watson scored five straight into the third to cut the deficit to one, but the Hornets answered with a 9-0 run to go ahead double digits. Davison scored twice, Scheierman added another, and Ramsey and Harper provided bench scoring to give Boston a chance in the fourth quarter.
They took it there, as House and other Celtics jarred with Hornets players, Cook, Enaruna, Ramsey and Tillie all scored to keep Boston within one point. Cook put back a third-chance dunk with five minutes left to tie the game at 68, then Ramsey’s three and a baseline Watson jumper tied it at 77 with three left. House hit four free throws, two to gain a brief lead and another to ice the game after Matt Morgan’s three took the lead back and Ramsey did the same for Boston. House ran back on defense, yelling at the Charlotte player who called his shot broken. That’s not who he is off the floor, House said after, but on it, he changes due to his love for the game.