Friday, July 10 - Celtics vs. NJ/Philadelphia Celtics 92, NJ/Philly 79, Final Box Score The Boston Celtics came full circle in their five-day week of the 2009 Orlando Pro Summer League, opening with a win on Monday and closing it out with a 92-79 victory today over the New Jersey/Philadelphia combo team. While the NJ/Philly squad struggled to find their groove on offense, two C's shined with the ball in their hands. Gabe Pruitt scored 13 points and showcased his passing abilities by racking up nine assists compared to only two turnovers. Nick Fazekas was the team's leading scorer with 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting and also grabbed nine rebounds. It was an impressive bounce-back game for the 7-foot shooter, who missed out on two opportunities in the final 10 seconds of last night's loss to either tie or give the C's the lead. J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker played solid roles in helping the Celtics shoot 53.8 percent as a team by chipping in nine points apiece. NJ/Philly saw some of their young players show spurts of solid play, but the final box score represents a group that just couldn't hit their stride as a team. Marreese Speights, entering his second NBA season, scored 13 points but pulled in only three rebounds. The top two rookie draft picks participating on the NJ/Philly squad, Terrence Williams and Jrue Holiday, both showed flashes of solid play but also struggled at times. Williams scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds, but he also committed six of the team's 12 turnovers. Holiday also finished with eight points while dishing out four assists and pulling in four rebounds, but he, too, gave the ball away, finishing with three turnovers. For the week, Fazekas was the Boston's leading scorer (13.2 PPG) and rebounder (6.2 RPG). The next three leading scorers had nearly identical averages, with Coby Karl scoring 12.0 PPG and both Giddens and Walker averaging 11.8 PPG. The C's finished the week with a stat that embodies an unselfish team: six separate players finished their Summer League averaging double figures. That wraps it up for Celtics.com at the 2009 Orlando Pro Summer League. Although the record was only 2-3, the young Celtics players definitely showed glimpses of high potential. We hope you all got to catch a look at the Summer C's with the live stream and enjoyed our coverage from Orlando. - Marc D'Amico Streaming Link for Celtics vs. NJ/Philadelphia Watch Live! (1:00 p.m. - Courtesy of Orlando Magic) Thursday, July 9 - Celtics vs. Pacers; Wallace Presser Celtics 88, Pacers 91, Final Box Score | Photos The Boston Celtics has another one come down to the wire in their 2009 Summer League, but they came up just short again and fell to the Indiana Pacers, 91-88. The game was a one-possession outing for the entire final minute of the game and Nick Fazekas had two opportunities to tie the game for the C's but came up short on both tries. First, after a Chris Lofton missed 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds remaining, Fazekas got the rebound and was fouled with the Celtics down by one. He went to the free throw line but missed both opportunities. The Celtics promptly fouled the Pacers on their inbounds play and sent them to the line for their own clutch free throws. Indiana, however, would capitalize, making both and giving themselves a three-point advantage with just over five seconds remaining. At the other end of the court, Fazekas wound up with the ball in his hands once again and he fired up a game-tying 3-point attempt that missed long and ended the game. The C's shot 58 percent from the floor and were led by Lofton's 21 points, 16 of which came in the second quarter alone. Fazekas finished with 14 and Bill Walker chipped in 12. With their balanced scoring throughout the week, the Celtics now have six players averaging double-figures, including Coby Karl, Walker, J.R. Giddens, Lofton, Fazekas and Gabe Pruitt. Indiana continued to see success from their last two frontline draft picks, as Roy Hibbert poured in a game-high 28 points and Tyler Hansbrough dropped 22. First Half: Pacers 41, Celtics 43 The Celtics lead the Pacers 43-41 at the half, after Chris Lofton exploded for 16 second-quarter points to lead the C's on a 28-17 run over the length of the quarter. Overall, the Celtics were 6/10 from behind the arc in the half. Tyler Hansbrough and Roy Hibbert proved a potent combination down low, with Hansbrough dropping 10 of the pair's 14 combined points in the first quarter as the Pacers jumped out to a 24-15 lead after one. Hansbrough was just 2/7 from the field but connected on all six of his free throws. Robert Swift was 3/3 in the first quarter, but he had two of the team's six first quarter turnovers. Streaming Link for Celtics/Pacers Watch Live! (7:00 p.m. - Courtesy of Orlando Magic) Summer Celtics Meet Pacers at 7 p.m. Down in Orlando, the Summer League rolls on and the C's look to even their record at 2-2 when they meet the Indiana Pacers. We'll have updates at the half and once the game is over. Wallace Presser in Waltham The media section is beginning to fill up and we're almost set to kick off the official welcome of Rasheed Wallace to the Boston Celtics. Wallace is scheduled to take the stage at 4 p.m. today to speak with the media along with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Danny Ainge. Head Coach Doc Rivers may be making an appearance as well, but that still isn't set in stone. - Marc D'Amico Wednesday, July 8 - Celtics vs. Thunder - 5 p.m. Halftime Update - Thunder 47, Celtics 35 The C's trail the Thunder 47-35 at the half in Orlando. Gabe Pruitt's (seven points, three assists) looked good controlling the pace, but the Thunder have more NBA-ready talent on their roster and they're getting a lot of easy looks at the basket. The Summer C's had a shaky start in Wednesday's game vs. the Thunder, as they committed a pair of turnovers in the first 30 seconds of the contest. Once they settled in, Robert Swift made his presence felt under the hoop on the offensive end, dunking home the rebound of a missed free throw and doing some solid work on the glass (four rebounds). A J.R. Giddens breakaway dunk put the C's up 13-12 with 1:40 to play in the quarter, but the Thunder outscored the Celtics 7-3 to close the quarter out and held a 19-16 lead after the first. The C's shot just 38 percent from the field in the first quarter, and 41 percent for the half. Oklahoma City is shooting 49 percent (16/33) and crushing the C's on the glass. Russell Westbrook dropped six of his 15 points in the first and had a couple of loud baseline jams in the opening stanza. - Peter Stringer Pregame The Summer Celtics are back in action at 5 p.m. today when they take on another talented young opponent, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Oklahoma City's roster sports the No. 3 pick in the 2009 Draft, James Harden, and the No. 4 pick from last year's Draft, Russell Westbrook. The C's won't fret, though, as they boast their own NBA-ready talent, led by J.R. Giddens, Gabe Pruitt and Bill Walker. The C's and Thunder have experienced similar weeks thus far. Both teams won by double-digits in their opening game Monday and then lost nail biters Tuesday. This evening, they'll both be looking to up their record to 2-1 for the week. - Marc D'Amico Tuesday, July 7 - Celtics vs. Magic - 3 p.m. Celtics 82, Magic 85, Final Box Score | Photos Less than 24 hours after a blowout victory over the Utah Jazz, the Celtics were in a barn burner that came down to the final seconds this afternoon. Coby Karl stole an inbounds pass with 7.9 seconds remaining in the game but J.R. Giddens' game-tying 3-point attempt came up short and the C's fell to the Orlando Magic, 85-82. Boston also had a chance to tie the game at 82 with 32.5 seconds remaining, but Kevin Rogers missed two free throw attempts that allowed the Magic to gain a two-possession lead on Kasib Powell's running layup with 11.9 seconds left. Karl was the Celtics' leading scorer with 18 and J.R. Giddens had a solid all around performance with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists. Gabe Pruitt also chipped in 14 for the C's. Ryan Anderson had his second consecutive impressive performance for the Magic and finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds. - Marc D'Amico Halftime Update - Celtics 45, Magic 46 With Bill Walker (back) and Mike Sweetney (hamstring) out today, the C's started Nick Fazekas and Coby Karl alongside Pruitt, Giddens and Swift. Fazekas dropped 10 points in 14 minutes in the first half, while Giddens and Pruitt each had a monster dunk. Giddens seemed to be the focal point of the offense, played 19 of the first 20 minutes, and he scored 8 points on 4-of-8 shooting. The C's fell behind early in the first quarter, 12-2, but pulled within two by the end of the first quarter and played the Magic even throughout the second period. Karl had nine points and five rebounds in 15 minutes. Roster Move Bryce Taylor is no longer with the Celtics' Summer League team. Monday, July 6 - Celtics vs. Jazz - 7 p.m. Celtics 87, Jazz 56 - Final Box Score | Photos Draft pick Lester Hudson and Bill Walker both shined Monday night as the Summer Celtics earned their first win of the week in Orlando, drubbing the Jazz 87-56. Walker led all scorers with 14 points, while second-rounder Hudson (#58 overall) scored 11 points and used his quickness at both ends of the floor. "I just want to play hard on both ends of the floor," Hudson said. "I just go out there and stop my man from scoring." The Celtics outscored the Jazz 21-13 in the first quarter, and used a 23-6 run to build a 44-19 lead at the half. Hudson was a large part of the early effort, scoring nine points in his first 11 minutes on the floor. The C's shot 61% from the field in the first half, and held Utah to just 23% shooting over the same span. Halftime Report - Celtics 44, Jazz 19 This game is getting out of hand already, and it's only halftime. The Summer Celtics outscored the Jazz 23-6 in the second quarter to open a 44-19 edge at the break. Lester Hudson led all scorers with 9 points, while Bill Walker (3/7) and Gabe Pruitt (3/4) had 7 points apiece. The Celtics featured two of their three roster players in the first quarter, looking to Walker and J.R. Giddens throughout the first quarter. Walker was active all over the place, and after a couple of sloppy plays, Giddens settled in nicely, too. Mike Sweetney (3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) established himself in the paint early, and didn't appear to rusty in early action, and changed a few shots inside. The C's jumped out to a 21-13 lead after the first quarter after opening the game on a 12-5 run. Hudson's quickness was on display, and he appears to be a very creative scorer. On the defensive end, he's Rondo-like in the sense that he can get his hands on the ball in many situations, both against his own man and other unsuspecting opponents. Pregame The Celtics/Jazz is the nightcap, the third of three tilts. In the first game between the Nets/Sixers and Pacers, Marreese Speights took 26 of 70 shots for the NJ/Philly split squad entry, and he finished with 28 points on 11/26 shooting. He also grabbed 11 rebounds along the way. The Pacers, however, prevailed 75-67. Tyler Hansbrough led the way with 17 points for Indy. The Thunder knocked off the Magic in Game 2, 88-77, and Russell Westbrook, who averaged 15.3 PPG in the NBA last season, was an obvious standout, getting wherever he wanted to (most notably, the FT line, where he was 16/18) and looking like the best player on the floor when we showed up in the second half. Westbrook finished with 22 points; Ryan Anderson had 21 for the Magic in the loss. Morning Shootaround Assistant Coach Mike Longabardi led the summer Celtics through about an hour of work this morning, running through offensive and defensive sets for tonight's game against the Utah Jazz. Look for a starting unit of Gabe Pruitt, J.R. Giddens, Bill Walker, Mike Sweetney and Robert Swift, all of whom were wearing the green jerseys in this morning's walkthrough. Also, Celtics.com will be picking up a live stream of the games courtesy of the Orlando Magic. We'll post a link to the feed in time for tip-off at 7 p.m. To watch the live video this week, you'll need to download Windows Media Player if it's not already installed on your computer. Also of note, with the glut of guards on the Celtics' summer league team, Orlando native Darius Washington is no longer on the roster. http://www.nba.com/celtics/summerleague/2009/postups.html
