Celtics-Lakers Summer League takeaways: Neemias Queta shines in win

Celtics-Lakers Summer League takeaways: Neemias Queta shines in win originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics have secured their first win in 2024 NBA Summer League action at the Los Angeles Lakers‘ expense.

After falling to the Miami Heat in their high-scoring Summer League opener Saturday, the Summer C’s cranked up the defensive intensity Monday night en route to a 88-74 victory at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Big man Neemias Queta tallied a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds for Boston, while Jahmi’us Ramsey (13 points) and Drew Peterson (12 points) also reached double figures.

Bronny James, the son of Lakers superstar LeBron James, had a rough offensive night for Los Angeles — two points on 1 for 5 shooting (0 for 3 from 3-point range) — while fellow rookie Dalton Knecht led the way for the Lakers with 19 points.

The Summer Celtics are back in action Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets at 5:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston, but before that matchup, here are three takeaways from Monday’s contest:

Neemias Queta makes a statement

Queta might be playing his way out of Summer League action going forward — in a good way.

After tallying 20 points and nine rebounds against Miami, the 7-foot big man one-upped himself with a 22-point effort on a more-efficient 7 for 10 shooting.

Queta used his height to his advantage by throwing down multiple alley-oops, dominating on the glass and protecting the rim, racking up eight rebounds (four offensive) and three blocks.

Queta also got to the free throw line, making eight of his game-high nine free throw attempts.

The 25-year-old is the tallest and most experienced player on the Celtics’ Summer League roster, so he should be able to find success in Vegas. But it’s still encouraging to see Queta take advantage of his opportunity, especially considering he could see action early in the season with big man Kristaps Porzingis sidelined due to injury.

Scheierman overcame a slow start Saturday to finish with 13 points, but he had no such luck offensively against the Lakers.

The Celtics’ first-round pick (No. 30 overall) in the 2024 NBA Draft went 1 for 7 from the floor and 1 for 6 from 3-point range to finish with just three points. What the C’s will find encouraging, however, is that Scheierman didn’t let his offensive struggles impact the other parts of his game.

The Creighton product showed promise as a facilitator with three assists and played solid defense, recording one steal and finishing as a plus-24, tied with Jordan Walsh for the best plus-minus mark on the team.

Celtics Summer League coach D.J. MacLeay lauded Scheierman’s defensive effort Monday night after watching his team give up 119 points to the Heat on Saturday.

“I think after the game the other night, we really talked about, that just is not our standard,” MacLeay told reporters, via CelticsBlog. “It was a group-wide thing, but it was something that we talked about with Baylor as well. And I thought he really like took on that challenge. He took it on the chin, similar to Jordan, and he really was much, much better tonight.”

Jordan Walsh shows (some) improvement

After a brutal offensive showing against Miami (four points on 1 for 8 shooting), the Celtics’ 2023 second-round pick found a little more offense Monday night, finishing with nine points on 4 for 12 shooting.

Walsh still struggled from 3-point range, however, and now is 0 for 11 from deep through two Summer League games.

The 20-year-old found plenty of other ways to impact the game, recording six rebounds, two assists, three steals and a block. He has a reputation as an excellent defender, and that shouldn’t be an issue going forward.

If Walsh wants to carve out minutes at the NBA level, though, he’ll need to be more effective offensively — particularly as a 3-point shooter. Walsh’s offense is worth watching in Boston‘s final two Summer League games.