NBA Summer League 2017: Scores and Highlights from Thursday's Las Vegas Results
The second day of bracket play at the Las Vegas Summer League took place Thursday, with eight games on the schedule and a spot in the quarterfinals on the line. Below, we'll break down the day's scores and highlights.
San Antonio Spurs 86, New Orleans Pelicans 81
Bryn Forbes went off Thursday evening, posting 29 points and five assists to lead the San Antonio Spurs to the quarterfinals with an 86-81 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Derrick White chimed in with 15 points, but Forbes was the headliner, nailing shots like this one from the corner, per the Spurs:
And setting up his teammates:
The Pelicans had a balanced performance, meanwhile, with five players in double-digit scoring, led by Quinn Cook (16 points, seven assists) and Cheick Diallo (13 points, 13 rebounds). It wasn't enough to stay alive in Las Vegas, however.
The Spurs now take on the Portland Trail Blazers in the quarterfinals.
Brooklyn Nets 85, Denver Nuggets 74
The Nets continued their quality run through the summer league, using a balanced effort to knock off the Nuggets in an easy win.
No one on the team scored 15 points, but seven players were between eight and 14 points for Brooklyn.
Isaiah Whitehead was the top option with 14 points, four assists and three rebounds to go with some quality highlights:
Milton Doyle also had a strong effort while finishing 6-of-9 from the field.
The defense was even more impressive, holding Denver to 32.1 percent shooting from the field. This play from Archie Goodwin showcased the effort on both ends of the court:
Malik Beasley was the only real offensive weapon for the Nuggets, scoring 20 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range.
Brooklyn will advance to the next round of the playoffs to take on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Boston Celtics 93, Golden State Warriors 69
The Celtics showcased their depth Thursday with a dominant performance over the defending champs even without Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown.
Jabari Bird put on a show as he scored 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting. His jump shot was really working in this game:
"We've heard this one before. Bird (13p) is the high-scorer for the #Celtics! Jabari, that is... pic.twitter.com/ZZO6nyfFDS
— NBA (@NBA) July 13, 2017"
The second-round pick showed why he should earn a spot in what should be a deep rotation in Boston.
Meanwhile, 2016 first-round pick Ante Zizic performed well with 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, also going 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Patrick McCaw helped the Warriors with 20 points but still finished minus-25. Jordan Bell was also minus-25 with just four points as he failed to build off his breakout performance.
The Celtics will now take on the Dallas Mavericks in the quarterfinals Saturday.
Miami Heat 91, Los Angeles Clippers 84
It was a close battle, but a high-scoring trio for Miami helped hand the Clippers their first loss of the Vegas Summer League.
Okaro White scored 23 points, Justin Robinson had 22 and Gian Clavell added 20 to lead the way for the Heat. These players were responsible for 71.4 percent of the scoring for the team, helped out significantly by their 12 combined made three-pointers on 25 attempts.
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel discussed the outside shooting (Miami finished 15-of-37 as a team):
Robinson was especially impressive, showing size doesn't matter while knocking down shots from everywhere:
The 5'8" guard added six assists and four steals. Combined with the game-winning shot from the last time out, he is stating his case for a spot on the team next year.
Brice Johnson had a solid effort for Los Angeles, but his 13 points and six rebounds weren't enough for a win.
The Heat now get a day off before taking on the Memphis Grizzlies.
Memphis Grizzlies 102, Phoenix Suns 98
Wade Baldwin IV came through with the game-winning shot with 8.6 seconds left to send the Memphis Grizzlies to quarterfinals.
This strong finish made the difference before two free throws sealed the win:
Baldwin had 21 points, although Wayne Selden was the real star with a 33-point effort on 10-of-17 shooting.
A big dunk showed what he could do when he is at his best:
This ruined a great night from Mike James, who finished with 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting, plus five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
2016 lottery pick Dragan Bender also showcased his skill set with 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the loss for Phoenix, while Josh Jackson added 13 points and eight rebounds.
Unfortunately, the squad will need to play much better defense to win games in the regular season.
Memphis will take on the Heat in the next round.
Dallas Mavericks 83, Sacramento Kings 76
The matchup was a head-to-head battle between first-round rookies Justin Jackson and Dennis Smith Jr., each of whom scored 25 points.
Each player showed off his individual scoring ability in the first half:
This continued into the second, but the Mavericks did just enough to survive for the win. They will now take on the red-hot Celtics in the quarterfinals.
De'Aaron Fox was limited to just seven minutes due to an ankle injury, although he still produced another quality highlight on the defensive end:
Unfortunately, the lack of a true point guard seemed to slow everyone besides Jackson.
With Smith leading the way on the other side, Dallas overcame a 0-of-10 effort from Yogi Ferrell to come away with the victory.
Portland Trail Blazers 91, Toronto Raptors 85
While it was a one-point game with two minutes remaining, Nick Johnson made big shots down the stretch to help Portland close out the narrow victory.
Fred VanVleet was arguably the best player on the floor while scoring 31 points for Toronto. He added six rebounds and two steals. He was getting it done both offensively and defensively:
However, depth was key for Toronto as Johnson had 17 points, while Jarnell Stokes added 13, both off the bench.
The two combined to go 12-of-17 from the field, including Johnson's 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Caleb Swanigan also had a solid effort with 13 points and 11 rebounds. He and the rest of Portland's bigs helped keep Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam in check after the duo had performed so well the rest of the week.
Toronto had been the No. 1 seed, but Portland moves onto the quarterfinals to face the San Antonio Spurs.
Los Angeles Lakers 94, Cleveland Cavaliers 83
It's still just summer league, but Lonzo Ball continues to show why he is a star in the making.
He posted another triple-double with some highlight-reel plays in the process:
"Lonzo balled out once again
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 14, 2017"
16 points
10 rebounds
12 assists
5 steals pic.twitter.com/NHKrxKWoKL
Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated noted the rarity of his play:
His shooting still wasn't great, and he finished with seven turnovers, but his play was a big reason the Lakers won.
Kyle Kuzma and Vander Blue also had big showings with a combined 38 points for the Lakers.
Cleveland was a victim of poor shooting as the squad finished just 36 percent from the field. T.J. Williams was the biggest perpetrator while finishing 2-of-16 from the floor, although Kay Felder didn't help while needing 26 shots to score his 25 points.
Although the Cavaliers had been great for the first few games in Las Vegas, a squad that features few players likely to make the roster simply couldn't keep up with the young core of the Lakers.
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