With top players sitting, Celtics crush Hawks to close out Summer League

The Celtics closed out their Summer League schedule with a comprehensive domination over the Atlanta Hawks winning - in Las Vegas Boston finished the tournament with a - record under Summer League head coach Matt Reynolds Here are three takeaways from Sunday s finale Top players sit The two preponderance established Celtics on the Summer League roster Jordan Walsh and Baylor Scheierman both watched the final event from the bench in street clothes with Boston opting to take a longer look at its rookies and unsigned players Scheierman led the organization in minutes played over the first four games and made a positive impact as a passer assists per tournament and defender steals The second-year pro struggled mightily as a shooter however making just of his field goals and of his -pointers Walsh dealt with chosen fouling issues over his four appearances including one ejection but there was a lot to like about his offensive production in Vegas A non-factor on that end of the floor in greater part of his career NBA appearances the -year-old averaged points per encounter while shooting from the field and from three Walsh also led all Celtics players in free throws per event though his success rate on those will need to improve Kenneth Lofton Jr also did not suit up against Atlanta The -year-old big man who starred in the Chinese Basketball Association last season averaged points points and assists over his four games with the Summer C s Rookie record The Celtics three draft picks wing Hugo Gonzalez center Amari Williams and point guard Max Shulga all started against Atlanta with Miles Norris and Kendall Brown Gonzalez the only rookie on Boston s -man roster shot the ball poorly to finish out his first Summer League -for- -for- from three but the Celtics were a much better crew with the -year-old Spaniard on the floor Gonzalez was a plus- in his minutes against the Hawks points better than any other Boston starter Williams had particular poor passing decisions and defensive lapses but he turned in his the bulk productive outing of the summer finishing with six points eight rebounds and four assists Jalen Bridges benefited from two of Williams assists which set him up for an open three and an easy dunk Shulga went -for- and tallied two assists and two steals The VCU product finished the tournament with an impressive -to- assist-to-turnover ratio but a team-worst field-goal percentage It would be surprising if Williams or Shulga saw real NBA minutes in the near future but the size of Gonzalez s role will be one of the top Celtics storylines as the season approaches The first-round pick is understandably raw at this early stage of his career but his capacity and hustle traits president of basketball operations Brad Stevens spotlighted on draft night could earn him playing time on Joe Mazzulla s new-look bench Emptying the bench With Walsh Scheierman and Lofton all sitting and early standout Charles Bassey no longer with the squad after his three-game summer contract expired earlier in the week there were plenty of minutes to go around for selected of Boston s lesser-used Summer Leaguers Among those guard Isaiah Wong who led the Celtics with points on -of- shooting -of- from three and six assists Aaron Scott racked up seven offensive rebounds and added three assists one steal and one block Zach Hicks and Benjamin Gregg combined to go -for- from beyond the arc with Gregg also grabbing eight rebounds Scott logged just five total minutes over the first four Summer League games Hicks and Gregg played even less making just one two-minute cameo apiece before Sunday s finale The Celtics closed with their deep bench lineup and Bridges Wong Gregg and Hayden Gray all hit threes in the final four minutes to close the door on a Hawks comeback bid Next up on Boston s schedule training camp which will begin in late September or early October Expect certain of the non-rostered players on the Celtics Summer League squad to return to compete for spots in the preseason which begins Oct against Memphis