The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Las Vegas Summer League Day 3

LAS VEGAS — Relatively speaking, Sundays are typically quiet in Las Vegas. By the time the raucous fun of Saturday night has come and gone, most weekend visitors are sapped of their vitality, on their way home or both.

The same largely held true during Day 3 of the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League. The hordes of fans, casual and hardcore alike, who packed the stands Friday and Saturday thinned out to mobs of more manageable size and density.

That didn't do anything to take away from the action on the court. There was still enough good, bad and ugly to go around, with the most noteworthy entries in each category listed below.

Good: Mudiay Drives (and Kicks) Denver to Victory

Those passels of patrons who packed Cox Pavilion for Kings-Nuggets didn't leave disappointed, especially if they expected a show from Emmanuel Mudiay.

The No. 7 pick in the 2015 draft held a firm grasp over the flow of the action during Denver's 98-76 smashing of Sacramento. He had little trouble driving the lane against the Kings' contingent of guards and, more often than not, either found his teammates for high-quality looks or finished the play himself.

"The one thing about Emmanuel: If you just stay shot-ready and if you put pressure on the rim, he will find you," said Nuggets summer-league coach Micah Nori. "Very unselfish player and, obviously, as you saw, we scored 100 points in 40 minutes doggone near running almost nothing but pick-and-roll and just letting those guys play and letting them do what they do."

Mudiay's proclivity toward passing appeared to influence his teammates as well. They rarely hesitated, passing up good shots for great ones, and wound up shooting a sizzling (for summer league) 46.9 percent from the field, including 12-of-29 (41.4 percent) from three.

John Locher/Associated Press

Mudiay finished with 19 points and 10 assists to go along with three rebounds, three steals and just two fouls. The former Guangdong Southern Tigers guard was far from perfect; he turned the ball over six times, including his very first possession of the game, and his shot looked shaky at times (1-of-5 from three, 4-of-7 from the stripe).

But mistakes are more the norm than the exception for young guards, especially in the freewheeling, AAU-style environment of summer league. And the Nuggets can and likely will work closely with Mudiay to sharpen his jumper.

In the meantime, Denver has to be pleased with the poise, patience and leadership its 19-year-old point guard has shown in the embryonic stages of his pro career.

"I just want to give off a winning attitude," Mudiay said after the game. "We're 2-0 right now, but we can't be satisfied."

So far, though, the Nuggets are probably satisfied with their decision to bring Mudiay to the Mile High City.

Bad: Portis Takes a Step Back

On Saturday, Zach LaVine earned the dubious (and all-too-common) distinction of struggling the night after a strong summer-league performance. Come Sunday, it was Bobby Portis who found himself in that position.

The No. 22 overall pick struggled mightily with his shot during the Chicago Bulls' 81-66 loss to the Toronto Raptors. Nearly 24 hours after opening eyes by knocking down three of four from three and nine of 14 shots overall, Portis made just one of 10 attempts from the field and missed his lone shot from beyond the arc. His poor performance prompted Bulls.com's Sam Smith to call for extra safety precautions to protect the audience:

"Bobby is going to be fine," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said, per the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson. "I thought he was pressing a little bit. Instead of getting that ball moving from side to side, he just came down and called for the ball and tried to go one-on-one against too much length."

Fortunately for Portis, he'll have some time to make the necessary adjustments. The Bulls are off Monday, with a return to the court at Cox Pavilion, against the Brooklyn Nets, scheduled for 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Until then, the Arkansas product can take to heart a piece of advice paraphrased from Finding Nemo: Just keep shooting.

Ugly: D.C. Done In by D-League

Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images

Desperation is never in short supply at the Las Vegas Summer League. Most of the players taking part in the action in Sin City are scratching and clawing for any opportunity they can find in professional basketball, be it in an NBA training camp, in the D-League or somewhere overseas.

In the case of the D-League Select squad, that dictum applies to everyone on the roster, from the chair-smashing Hasheem Thabeet to the high-scoring Scotty Hopson to Blake Griffin's older brother, Taylor.

Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images

Apparently, the team-wide urgency on display from the D-Leaguers was too much for the Washington Wizards to handle. D.C.'s summer-league contingent, highlighted by first-round rookie Kelly Oubre Jr., fell hard and fast against the assembled D-Leaguers, 94-74. Washington was down 17 points at the half and finished the game shooting an abysmal 25 percent from the field.

Jarrid Famous, a bona fide basketball vagabond, did his best to up the efficiency factor for the Wizards. The South Florida grad led all scorers with 21 points on just seven shot attempts (11-of-12 from the free-throw line).

Oubre had his moments—like his flying tomahawk dunk on the break in the first quarter—but he still finished with more fouls (six) than made field goals (5-of-17).

The Wizards, though, needn't fret over one bad game in summer league. And, well, John Wall and Co. won't have to worry about contending with a scrappy collection of hoops hangers-on anytime soon.

Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.