The Celtics started hot and stayed hot in their second game of Las Vegas NBA Summer League on Tuesday evening. It was rising NBA sophomore Aaron Nesmith who stole the show offensively. The Celtics guards proved too much for Denver rookie Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland and the Nuggets in a 107-82 blowout win.
Behind scorching shooting in the first quarter, the Celtics built an 8-point lead they never gave up. Boston went 7-of-8 from 3 through the first 10 minutes of action; Nesmith and Payton Pritchard combined to connect on all five of their attempts.
The second quarter saw the Nuggets struggling to get stops with Nesmith, Pritchard and Romeo Langford handling the scoring load. Langford had the dunk of the day in Las Vegas when he exploded over Davon Reed for a right-handed punch:
WHAT A DUNK BY ROMEO LANGFORD đ±
(via @NBATV)pic.twitter.com/GlYDGNoVpm
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 11, 2021
The second half was largely cruise control for a Celtics squad that built a 20-point halftime lead. After promising debuts, Yam Madar and Juhann Begarin were quiet in limited reps. Tuesday provided a chance for the experienced Celtics to take over.
Nesmith finished with a game-high 33 points while shooting 7-of-9 from distance. The former Vanderbilt star showed flashes of the shooter he could become, and he is growing in confidence. Following his 5-of-14 shooting performance in Game 1 with one of his better shooting games ever is proof of growth.
âIn the gym yesterday, I made sure I went through the same routine, changed nothing, kept the same confidence in my shot, and then came out today and just shot it the way that I know I can every day,â Nesmith said in the postgame press conference.
The Celtics are 2-0 heading into what should be a terrific game on Thursday night against Jalen Suggs and the Orlando Magic.