NBA Summer League 2016: Scores and Highlights from Friday's Las Vegas Results

Following brief stops in Orlando and Utah, the NBA Summer League circuit made its return to Las Vegas on Friday for Day 1 of action in the desert.

The jam-packed slate features six games, headlined by clashes involving heralded lottery picks such as Brandon Ingram of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kris Dunn of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Thon Maker of the Milwaukee Bucks and Buddy Hield of the New Orleans Pelicans. 

Here's a look at the complete schedule and results for Friday's contests: 

Matchup	Result/Start Time (ET)
Milwaukee Bucks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers	Bucks def. Cavaliers, 81-75
D-League Select vs. Memphis Grizzlies	Grizzlies def. D-League Select, 99-79
Atlanta Hawks vs. Houston Rockets	Hawks def. Rockets, 83-78
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Denver Nuggets	Nuggets def. Timberwolves, 88-82
Sacramento Kings vs. Toronto Raptors	Raptors def. Kings, 88-47
Los Angeles Lakers vs. New Orleans Pelicans	Lakers def. Pelicans, 85-65

Los Angeles Lakers 85, New Orleans Pelicans 65

In the franchise's first game without Kobe Bryant on the roster since May 2, 1996, the Lakers looked sharp with an 85-65 win over the Pelicans. 

The key for the Lakers next season will probably be D'Angelo Russell, who dazzled on Friday with 20 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. He looked focused on both sides of the ball, as this fourth-quarter highlight from the team's official Twitter account shows:

Russell had a grand total of one double-double in his rookie season, so this is already a huge improvement for the 20-year-old as he seeks to move beyond everything that happened last year. 

Russell's big game also took some of the shine away from Ingram's debut. He finished with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting, grabbed four rebounds and showed excellent vertical on this rejection, via the Lakers' official Twitter account:

Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated noted there was a different air in the building for the Lakers on Friday than they had all of last season:

This is a huge season for the Lakers. They aren't ready to compete for a playoff spot yet, but the addition of Ingram to a nucleus that already includes Russell and Julius Randle certainly makes them interesting. 

The Pelicans were showing off their own highly touted rookie in Buddy Hield, who got off to a shaky start. The 2016 Wooden Award winner did lead the team with 13 points, though it came on 5-of-20 shooting. 

Hield had an erratic end to his college career, going just 4-of-12 in Oklahoma's Final Four loss against Villanova. He also made just one of eight attempts in a Big 12 tournament loss against West Virginia. 

On the bright side, per Jim Eichenhofer of the Pelicans' official website, Hield does seem to have the right perspective about things when talking to the media:

There are going to be plenty of growing pains for Hield along the way, but as he showed in his senior year at Oklahoma, the highs can be off the charts when he's locked in. 

The Pelicans will be counting on Hield's scoring touch to pair with Anthony Davis as they seek to return to the playoffs after a disastrous 30-52 mark last season.

Toronto Raptors 88, Sacramento Kings 47

The chaos never stops with the Kings, who can't even find respite in the summer league after the Raptors destroyed them 88-47. 

This was a true team effort for the Raptors, who had 12 players score in the win. Norman Powell led the way with 13 points, though he shot just 4-of-11 from the field. Pascal Siakam was a shooting star, going 6-of-10 with 12 points. 

Toronto's first-round pick Jakob Poeltl made a nice impression in his debut with six points on 3-of-3 shooting and nine rebounds in just under 22 minutes. 

Josh Lewenberg of TSN 1050 was very pleased with what he saw from Poeltl:

The Raptors needed to find a center who can step in to play right away after Bismack Biyombo left in free agency. Poeltl is an NBA-ready big man who has the size and toughness to play down low on offense and defense, giving the team a legitimate weapon inside with Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan on the outside. 

The Kings can just file this one away, never to look at it again. Virtually anything that could go wrong, did. Willie Cauley-Stein struggled on the offensive end, making just two of his 10 attempts, though he did tie for the team lead with seven points. 

Skal Labissiere was the only Sacramento player to make more than two field goals. The Kings shot 28.3 percent overall, though they were a little better from three-point range (33.3 percent).

Denver Nuggets 88, Minnesota Timberwolves 82

The Nuggets are hoping for big things from 2015 first-round pick Emmanuel Mudiay, who provided a glimpse of what could be in store next season with 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists in an 88-82 win over the Timberwolves. 

Mudiay's point guard skills normally lend him being the one to being on the assist end of big plays, but he provided a huge finish on an alley-oop as the Nuggets were pulling away in the fourth quarter, via Denver's official Twitter account:

Gary Harris also had an impressive effort for the Nuggets, dropping 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting. The 21-year-old had a breakout season last year with 12.3 points per game, so this is an encouraging sign that things will continue to improve.

For the T'Wolves, for those fans and analysts who thought Dunn was one of the best picks in the draft, he rewarded that confidence with a stellar effort in his summer league debut. 

Dunn scored a game-high 27 points primarily matched up against Mudiay. The Providence star also provided the best highlight of the day, with this insane crossover on Jakar Sampson, via the NBA's official Twitter account:

An inconsistent shooter coming out of college, Dunn has the potential to be a star in the NBA. He's joining an excellent situation with new head coach Tom Thibodeau and playing alongside the last two Rookie of the Year winners, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns. 

Even in defeat, the Timberwolves have every reason to be thrilled by what they saw from their top draft pick on Friday. His development over the year will have a huge impact on how high they climb next season. 

Milwaukee Bucks 81, Cleveland Cavaliers 75

The Bucks opened their summer-league slate with a strong 81-75 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they had to be encouraged by what Maker showed in 31 minutes of action. 

Although his first few possessions were clunky and riddled with errors, the No. 10 overall pick finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

His efforts weren't always crisp, but Maker compensated for his lack of polish with tremendous energy on both ends of the floor, as Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman noted: 

While Maker shot just 5-of-14 from the field, including 0-of-4 from three-point range, he flashed a hint of potential outside of the paint with decent mechanics, as NBA TV documented on Twitter: 

Second-round selection Malcolm Brogdon added nine points, 11 rebounds and three assists, while 2015 first-round pick Rashad Vaughn chipped in with nine points, including a sweet up-and-under in the first half:

The Cavaliers didn't have any high draft picks like Maker or Vaughn to help pace their attack, but second-round pick Kay Felder displayed encouraging potential as a distributor and dribble-drive scorer with 14 points and five dimes.

Jordan McRae, who was a part of the Cavs' championship roster this past season, led the way with 23 points on 3-of-15 shooting from the field while going 16-of-17 from the free-throw line.

The Cavaliers will be back in action Saturday afternoon against the Brooklyn Nets, while Milwaukee is off until Sunday, when it will square off against the NBA D-League Select Team. 

Memphis Grizzlies 99, D-League Select 79

The Memphis Grizzlies ran roughshod over the NBA D-League Select squad, 99-79, behind 23 points from former Kentucky standout Andrew Harrison. 

Harrison added four rebounds, four assists and two steals to his final line as he led the way by shooting 5-of-11 from the field and a perfect 12-of-12 at the charity stripe. 

Grizzlies first-round draft pick Wade Baldwin IV was also rather impressive. The former Vanderbilt Commodores floor general tallied 14 points, three assists and four steals in his Summer League debut. 

Elsewhere, Jonathan Holmes poured in 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds in an efficient effort off the pine. 

Tu Holloway was the most noteworthy D-League Select performer. The former Xavier Musketeer 10 points on a night when his team shot just 42.9 percent from the field and 5-of-19 from three. 

Atlanta Hawks 83, Houston Rockets 78

The Atlanta Hawks rode the performances of three double-figures to a narrow five-point win over the Houston Rockets Friday night at Cox Pavilion. 

Kevin Pangos led the way with 16 points, while Bryce Cotton and first-round pick DeAndre Bembry out of Saint Joseph's dropped 14 points apiece. 

The Rockets, meanwhile, entered the evening with a loaded starting five that featured Gary Payton II, K.J. McDaniels, Sam Dekker, NBA veteran Michael Beasley and Montrezl Harrell. 

Dekker, who was limited to just three regular-season appearances last season due to a back injury, paced all Rockets scorers with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including a major transition slam in the fourth quarter, per NBA TV on Twitter: 

McDaniels, who's still searching for a regular NBA role, added 14 points. Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer, who went undrafted last month, proved effective with 13 points in 16 minutes off the bench. 

Beasley flirted with a double-double in his nine-point, seven-rebound effort, but he shot a putrid 3-of-15 from the field (0-of-2 from three) in the loss.