NBA Summer League 2015 Championship: Early Preview for Spurs vs. Suns
After 10 days of play in Las Vegas, the NBA's Summer League has narrowed the field to two teams. The San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns will meet in the championship game to determine the winner in Las Vegas.
The Spurs punched their ticket on the strength of a 75-68 win over the Atlanta Hawks. The win pushed their record in Vegas to 5-1 after losing their opening game to the New York Knicks.
The Suns had to get a little more offensive to earn their berth. They outgunned Seth Curry and the New Orleans Pelicans 93-87 to earn their spot in the final game and get their record to 5-1.
With both teams putting forth impressive runs to get to this point, the game will offer the final chance for compelling prospects and veterans to make their case for roles on NBA teams next season. Here's a look at both teams in the championship game and a prediction for who will take home the title in Vegas.
| Semifinal 1 | San Antonio Spurs 75, Atlanta Hawks 68 | Game Completed |
| Semifinal 2 | Phoenix Suns vs. New Orleans Pelicans | Game Completed |
| Championship | San Antonio Spurs vs. Phoenix Suns | 7/20, 9 p.m. ET |
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs have to be feeling pretty great about their offseason. In addition to landing LaMarcus Aldridge and David West, the summer-league team finds itself in the championship game.
Becky Hammon's run as the first female head coach of a summer-league team has to be considered a success. She's done a nice job of bringing this team together and oversaw a 15-point third-quarter comeback in the semifinals to get to this spot.
As far as the guys getting it done on the floor, the Spurs have relied on both Kyle Anderson and Jonathan Simmons to make things happen on the offensive side.
Anderson has been among the most prolific scorers in Las Vegas. He's third in the league at 22 points per contest on 45.6 percent shooting from the field. While the 2014 first-round pick only averaged 2.2 points in 10.8 minutes per game at the NBA level, his performance in these games has to be promising.
"He knows our system the best [among summer leaguers], he knows those conversations that coaches have had with him and what's expected of him, and he has absolutely stepped up and taken control of that," Hammon said about Anderson per Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. "We're happy with what he's doing right now. We're going to keep leaning on him a lot."
While Anderson's game has given him the nickname "Slow Mo," his teammate Jonathan Simmons has been anything but slow in Vegas. The 6'6" wing has been Anderson's running mate offensively thanks to an ability to finish at the rim with thunderous authority.
The NBA Summer League's official Twitter highlighted two of his more emphatic points in the semifinals. He finished the night with 19 points to go with eight rebounds.
Simmons has been a big spark off the bench for the Spurs. He hasn't started a game, yet he's second on the team in scoring. He's also been more efficient than Anderson with his 15.4 points per game coming on 54.6 percent shooting.
With both Simmons and Anderson looking to get involved in the Spurs rotation on the wing, it looks like they'll have two interesting options.
Both will heavily factor into the championship game as they make their final case to be included in the rotation.
Phoenix Suns
While the Spurs have been led by "Slow Mo," the Suns have been winning games by going as fast as possible. They've done a great job of mimicking the fast-paced attack the Suns will try to utilize in the regular season this year.
The system has allowed several players to shine for the Suns.
Phoenix's summer-league team is averaging 92.7 points per game on 46.8 percent shooting. For some context, the summer-league Spurs have topped 92 points in just one game throughout their entire tournament run.
Pacing the Suns offense has been T.J. Warren (19 PPG), Devin Booker (16.2 PPG) and Archie Goodwin (16.5 PPG). Warren leads the team, but the 18-year-old Booker showed he can take over a game in the team's semifinal win. The NBA highlighted his three-point shooting that led to a 31-point, nine-rebound night for the rookie.
The Suns aren't all run-and-gun, though. Josh Harrellson (6'10", 275 pounds) has emerged as an interesting option in the middle. With Alex Len picking up a DNP in the semifinal game, Harrellson scored 19 points and nine rebounds in 25 minutes.
As Jesus Gomez of Pounding the Rock noted, the Spurs went small down the stretch. Finding someone who can guard Harrellson down low might be a challenge for San Antonio's summer squad:
With the Suns' ability to get out and run, they definitely provide an intriguing contrast to the defensive-oriented Spurs in the final.
Prediction
Anderson and Simmons have been great for the Spurs. Anderson was even named MVP of the event, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders:
However, the Suns appear to have more weapons. Warren only scored two points in the team's semifinal victory. Phoenix responded by scoring 93 points. If Anderson were held to two points, the Spurs would be hard-pressed to find that much production based on what the rest of their team has done to this point.
The Suns have found a way to get teams to play their fast-paced style throughout their stay in Vegas. It's a style that should bring home a summer-league title and give fans in Phoenix a reason to be exciting heading into the regular season in the fall.
Prediction: Suns 95, Spurs 86
