LAS VEGAS — The Lakers’ summer league woes continued on Monday night with their 88-74 loss to the Boston Celtics at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Just like the Lakers’ previous four summer league games – three in the California Classic in San Francisco and their loss to the Houston Rockets on Friday – there were encouraging flashes.
First-round draft pick Dalton Knecht once again led the Lakers with a team-high 19 points, including nine in the third quarter.
“I only see him just keep going up, and you’re gonna see him keep getting better and better throughout the summer league and preseason and next year,” Lakers summer league and South Bay Lakers coach Dane Johnson said. “It’s just more reps, getting comfortable with the guys. And he’s a great shooter, great player, so he’s gonna continue to grow.
Lakers’ 2023 second-round pick Maxwell Lewis (13 points) found his groove from behind the arc in the second quarter, knocking down three 3-point shots and scoring 11 points in the quarter.
Moses Brown (11 points, six rebounds in 15 minutes) patrolled the interior well after the Lakers’ slow start and two-way forward Armel Traoré (four points, five rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot) made several plays that kept the Lakers in the game.
But none of it was enough, with the Lakers dropping their fifth consecutive exhibition of the summer.
Similar to Friday, the extremely pro-Lakers crowd inside the arena was filled with anticipation every time second-round pick Bronny James touched the ball.
The crowd erupted with cheers when James knocked down a pull-up 2-point shot to cut the Lakers’ deficit to 78-68 late in the fourth after the Lakers trailed by as may as 22 (60-38) in the third.
But James’ own struggles continued, with the son of Lakers star LeBron James finishing with two points on 1-of-5 shooting. He missed all three of his 3-point attempts, including a pair of airballs. He is 0 for 15 from 3-point range in four summer league games (he sat out the second game in San Francisco). James – who played one season of college basketball at USC – added three rebounds and one assist in 25 minutes.
“He’s trying to find his way,” Johnson said. “He’s trying to find the offense. Trying to get more reps with our guys to feel comfortable. But not worried about him. I’ve seen him shoot. I’ve seen him play. So not worried about the shooting struggles. He just has to continue to fight for great shots and then he’ll knock them down.”
Neemias Queta led the Celtics with 22 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
The Lakers will continue their summer league exhibitions with back-to-back matchups against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday.
“We’ve been growing every single game, and it’s only improving,” Knecht said. “We just got to keep working, staying in the gym, keep trusting everybody’s shot, and locking down on the defensive end, and we’ll be fine.”
