The past three months have been all about preparation for Hugo González.
In July, González joined the Spain national team for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers, logging appearances against Denmark, Georgia, and Greece. In Las Vegas, he joined the Boston Celtics and began to impress, leading the team in scoring (18.3 points) throughout Summer League — putting his offseason strides on full display.
Friday night was no different. The 20-year-old, poised to make a major leap this season, placed
his cherry on top against the Philadelphia 76ers with another elite performance. This time, facing a star-studded Philadelphia squad that started LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey, González stole the spotlight at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Fighting from behind a 14-point deficit in the second half, González was Boston’s difference-maker in their 125-120 overtime win over Philadelphia.
González scored a team-leading 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting with four rebounds, three assists, and a steal in 19 minutes off the bench. He went 3-of-7 from beyond the arc and didn’t commit a single turnover, unveiling his polished 3-point shot and improved ball-handling.
Philadelphia countered Boston’s starting lineup of Hayden Gray, Milos Uzan, Gabe McGlothan, Tucker DeVries and Chris Cenac Jr. with four of its top players. With Jayson Tatum, Paul George and Boston’s other regulars sidelined, the Celtics had every reason to struggle against a lineup riddled with future Hall of Famers in a game that counted towards absolutely nothing.
But González didn’t approach the team’s final competitive opportunity before Opening Night with that thought in mind.
Much like the Celtics saw during Summer League, González carries himself with greater confidence. You can see it in his catch-and-shoot 3-pointers and his drives to the basket. He has a different kind of swagger when he attacks the rim, which pairs well with the boldness he enforces defensively.
In the first quarter, González picked Brown’s pocket and flushed a wide-open two-handed dunk on the other end.
While the disengaged, such as James, cruised, González hustled and sparked the Celtics. For the second time this preseason, Boston didn’t need its regulars to take care of the best their opposition had for them. In the opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers, as Boston sat its most-rotated veterans, González came through with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting, helping put away Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.
The same way González embraced the Celtics’ stay-ready culture as a rookie last season was the same way he approached Friday night’s finale.
Just because stakes are minimal for both teams involved doesn’t mean González needs to take his foot off the gas. That’s his approach. He’s constantly in attack mode, and it’s a part of him he can’t turn off when he’s suited up and on the floor.
After the final buzzer, Brown went straight to González to shake his former teammate’s hand.
“It was good to see some of the young guys,” Brown told reporters postgame. “I spent a lot of time with those guys. To see them develop and get better, it’s good to see.”
If the version of González we’ve seen in FIBA, the Summer League, and preseason shows up this season, the Celtics have a lot to be excited about. González earned president of basketball operations Brad Stevens plenty of brownie points last year for snipping him 28th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, but that was just the start.
Boston now has a better idea of González’s potential, along with a clear role for him to fill.
So far, all signs point toward González taking that next step. He’s returned an upgraded version of his rookie self with the same hard-nosed motor that earned him immediate respect and admiration from Celtics fans last season. Now, all that’s left is to put it all together.
