Championship Tuesday: Kings To Face Celtics In Summer League Final
Aug 16, 2021, 9:25 AM | Updated: 2:31 pm
Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images
Sacramento (4-0) will play in Tuesday’s Las Vegas Summer League championship game against the Boston Celtics (4-0)
A lot of things needed to fall into place in order for the Sacramento Kings to claim a spot in Tuesday’s championship game for the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League.
First, they needed to take care of business on Sunday and defeat the Dallas Mavericks–all while keeping their point-differential at a respectable level to hold their place in the Summer League standings.
Step 1: Check.
Sacramento routed Dallas by a final of 86-70 to improve to 4-0 and increase its point-differential to +13.8, good enough for third-place in the standings.
The next series of events that needed to unfold in order for the Kings to make the jump to second-place were the following:
- Minnesota win by six points or fewer vs Philadelphia
- New Orleans win by nine points or fewer vs Golden State
Steps 2 and 3: Check and check.
Minnesota squeaked by Philadelphia with a three-point win and New Orleans barely outlasted an energized Warriors team for a one-point victory, but both end results gave Sacramento what it needed: a shot at the Summer League title.
Due to both Minnesota and Philadelphia failing to increase their respective point-differentials, the Kings leapfrogged both teams to secure a spot in Tuesday night’s championship game against the Boston Celtics.
Boston, who holds the greatest point-differential by a wide margin at 21.0 points, will take on a Sacramento team that will be without one of its key contributors in forward Chimezie Metu.
Metu was ejected from Sunday’s game after retaliating from a hard foul by throwing a punch at Mavericks forward Eugene Omoruyi.
Omoruyi was also ejected from the contest after being warranted a flagrant-2 foul, with Metu now facing a one-game suspension that will be served during Tuesday’s championship.
With Metu sidelined, expect energized big Emanuel Terry to step up in his place. Terry has been a very efficient player for the Kings this summer, with the 6’9 forward averaging 6.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game on 59-percent shooting from the field.
The Kings should have plenty of options ready to go even without Metu, such as guard Jahmi’us Ramsey, and forward Louis King, the scoring leaders of this summer’s squad.
Ramsey’s 16.3 points per game on 47-percent shooting from the field and 33-percent shooting from beyond the three-point arc have boosted his stock on this Kings roster, with his 1.5 steals per game adding to the narrative that this sophomore could be in line for a bigger role this coming season.
Forward Justin James was released by the team on Sunday, a move that could pave the way for more minutes for players like Ramsey and King, a 6’7 wing that is currently on a two-way contract.
King has impressed this summer, averaging 13.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.8 steals per game on 42-percent shooting from the field and 43-percent from three-point land.
Of course, the floor general behind thIs undefeated Kings team has been 9th overall pick in last month’s draft, Davion Mitchell.
Mitchell has been one of the more impressive prospects in Las Vegas, coming into action on Tuesday with averages of 11.3 points, 5.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game on 47-percent shooting from the field to go alongside a blistering 50-percent from deep.
Last season’s Naismith Defensive Player of the Year will have his hands full on Tuesday when Celtics guard Payton Pritchard faces off against the former Baylor Bear.
Pritchard has been one of the top scorers in Summer League play, coming into the title game having scored 20.3 points per contest over Boston’s first three games. The sophomore guard missed his team’s most recent game on Saturday in order to attend a Pro-Am game in Portland, Oregon–a game that he scored 92 points in.
There was speculation surrounding the former Oregon star’s availability for Tuesday’s game against Sacramento, but Pritchard but answered any questions on Sunday night via an announcement on Twitter:
Tuesday’s championship game will be a solid test for this young Kings team and head coach Bobby Jackson as they look to claim the franchise’s first Las Vegas Summer League title since 2014.
Tip-off is slated for 6:00pm PST on Tuesday night from the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
