Boston Celtics rookie Baylor Scheierman made a strong impression during Summer League action in Las Vegas, and it only required a single play.
During an exhibition matchup against Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night, Scheierman dove into the courtside stands and took a hard tumble — as the Celtics were ahead, 81-68 with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter. Worthy of doling out a “Tommy Point” Scheierman’s way, the No. 30th overall selection in last month’s NBA draft reflected on the electric possession-saving dive.
“My job is to crash offensive glass,” Scheierman explained, per team-provided video. “I saw it was a little short coming off. So I tried to position myself to be able to either grab it or deflect it, and I ended up deflecting it kind of towards the out of bounds. And then I just sprinted after it and did my best to keep it in bounds, but it was kind of hard to stop so I just took a tumble over the seats. But we still got the possession which is all that matters.”
Scheierman’s late-game instincts weren’t fazed by the 23-year-old’s three points on 1-for-7 shooting. The Creighton product still finished with four rebounds, three assists and a steal in Boston’s 88-74 victory over Los Angeles.
Most importantly, the collision didn’t leave Scheierman injured with regret.
“No, I’m not feeling sore,” Scheierman added. “I took a lot harder hits playing football in high school than that tumble right there.”
Scheierman’s far from secure in terms of a role with the title-defending Celtics, however, the southpaw shooter might be leaving a far more important impression on Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla. The Celtics used their first-round draft pick to add Scheierman’s outside shooting ability, but the left-handed snipper has also showcased an ability to do more than hunt scoring opportunities from beyond the arc.
