C’s outplay Bobcats 92-71 to earn first Summer League win

The Celtics dominated the ‘Cats today to receive their first summer league win and improve their record to 1-2. This is the third game in a row where we developed a big lead in the first quarter. However, this time, we held the lead throughout the game. Honestly, I enjoyed watching this game much more than the others. Not just because we got the W, I enjoyed watching this game because we were consistent throughout.

Tony Gaffney got his hands on the opening tip once again and this time, it concluded with a dunk. Nice, except that was his only score the whole game plus a free throw; ouch. However our dynamic offense and tough D helped us contain our 21-10 lead going into the second quarter.

Luke Harangody was one of the many players today who had a dominant first-half performance.  He knocked down two 3′s and at the conclusion of the half,  had 8 points. Erden had 4 boards early in the game and finished with 6 total rebounds and 8 points.

Something that I noticed about this matchup is that each quarter had different players standing out. The first quarter seemed to unfold into the Harangody-Erden show, while the second quarter was an impressive performance from Matt Janning, who scored a game-high 20 points.  With about a minute left in the second, Harangody was hit in the eye while he rushed for a rebound which caused bleeding, so he did not return until late in the fourth quarter. That left him with 12 points scored in total.

Then you have Deshawn Sims and Ryan Thompson stepping up in the third. These two players combined to put up our first 14 points in the third, which Deshawn totaling 18 and Thompson scoring 11.

Our lead was in the 20′s with some of our bench guys getting reps in the second half, but as soon as the regular guys like Jayee Caroll and Matt Janning returned, the lead elevated to the 30′s.

The C’s finished with a notable 53.8 percent from the field, while the Bobcats only shot 37.5% from the field and went 2 for 17 behind the arc. Charlotte, coming from two close games, one resulting in a game winner, just got blown out today. For Charlotte, their leading scorers were Derrick Brown (18) and Jeremy Pargo (10).

In conclusion, a decently fun summer league game to watch. That’s a first.