The worst thing about the Knicks‘ 91-84 Summer League loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday? Watching Kevin McCullar Jr.’s near-perfect game end via an elbow to an already hurt face.
McCullar played the Knicks’ second Las Vegas Summer League game wearing a face mask after taking a shot to the face in Friday’s loss to the Detroit Pistons.
He went on to score 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field against the Celtics on Sunday as one of very few bright spots on an underwhelming Knicks Summer League roster before exiting the game late in the fourth quarter against the Celtics.
“Kevin was solid,” Knicks summer league coach Jordan Brink told reporters on Sunday. “Got to take care of the ball a little bit better and that’s part of the learning curve for him as a primary ball handler. You see he had a mask on. He got hit in the head and then he got hit in the head again. That’s kind of how he plays. He’s a gritty player. He’s always in the mix with the physical contact. He fought through and I thought he had a pretty good game.”
McCullar finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists in 28 minutes in New York’s Las Vegas opener on Friday then added four rebounds, two steals — and eight personal fouls — to the docket on Sunday.
The Knicks selected the Texas Tech-turned-Kansas standout with the 56th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and waited an entire season as he recovered from a knee surgery responsible for prematurely ending his senior season.
McCullar returned to the floor and played in the season finale against the Nets, where he logged four points, eight rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in 22 minutes. He is now a restricted free agent and hoping either to return to the Knicks at their final minimum salary slot, land in a rotation elsewhere, or rejoin the Knicks on a two-way deal.
“This is really my real rookie season,” McCullar told reporters on Sunday. “Last year I just got to be able to get my feet wet a little bit. I love playing and I missed it for so long. Now it’s pretty much my rookie season.”
NOT INJURIES AGAIN
McCullar wasn’t the only casualty of Sunday’s loss to the Celtics.
Former No. 25-overall pick Pacome Dadiet left the game early with what the team initially called left foot soreness before reports identified his ailment as a toe injury.
James Nnaji, the 31st overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, also played only 11 minutes before he was ruled out due to lower back tightness. The Knicks acquired Nnaji as part of the Karl-Anthony Towns-Julius Randle swap with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and he joined New York’s Summer League roster after spending the past few seasons playing overseas.
COLD KOLEK
2024 Knicks second-round pick Tyler Kolek shot 1-of-13 from the field for three points, four assists and four turnovers on Sunday, though he did end the game with a block and a steal. Kolek shot 4-of-11 in the Summer League opener against the Pistons with eight assists to five turnovers. The Knicks were outscored by a team-high 25 points in Kolek’s 30 minutes on the court.
