While, technically speaking, the United States of America and Puerto Rico are the same country, for the purposes of the FIBA AmeriCup tournament, they are counted as separate entities with their own national teams. And on Thursday afternoon, former Boston Celtics floor general Tremont Waters pushed the US National Team to the brink, his performance for the Puerto Rican National Team coming up a point short of a win with the US eking out an 85-84 victory.
Waters co-led Puerto Rico in scoring, put up 16 points, 3 rebounds, an eye-popping 12 assists, and 2 steals in a performance that saw him pick up 3 personal fouls and as many turnovers in 31:24 minutes of floor time as a starter.
The Connecticut native shot 7-of-17 from the field overall, but just 1-of-9 from deep and 1-of-2 from the charity stripe in what must have been a frustrating near-miss for such a solid overall performance from Waters.
Celtics alum GiGi Datome helps Italy close out group phase with 90-56 blowout of Great Britain https://t.co/og8FVW4DtK
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 9, 2022
Against a team with current or former NBAers like Norris Cole, Anthony Lamb, Frank Mason, Jodie Meeks, Gary Clark, and Patrick McCaw, this was one of the former Celtics’ best outings in the AmeriCup to date.
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