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Boston Celtics 87 Atlanta Hawks 69
Boxscore

The Boston Celtics opened their summer schedule with an 87-69 win over the Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics were well supported in COX Pavilion for the Vegas debut of first round picks Jared Sullinger & Fab Melo.

21st pick Sullinger had a game high 14 points & 7 rebounds on 3/8 (1/2 3fg) shooting but did a good job getting to the line where converted 7/8 attempts. He was strong on the boards, pulling down some big defensive rebounds and stepped out to make two outside shots,(1/2 3fg) after having his first field goal attempt blocked by Keith Benson. Sullinger had to fight hard for post position for most of the game and often caught the ball well beyond 15 feet where was less effective.

22nd pick Fab Melo had some good moments. Within minutes of entering the game late in the first, Melo made a nice touch pass to Sean Williams (4pts 1 reb) for a dunk. Not long later, he ran the floor well to finish a break. He did have one boneheaded goal tend but otherwise was vocal all game and finished the game with 7 points 5 rebounds and an assist. His former Syracuse team mate and Second round pick Kris Joseph was solid, picking up 14 points 2 boards on 4/10 shooting. Despite not officially recording an assist for the game he displayed his passing ability with some good looks for team mates. Most of his shots were within the offence & he also made all five of his foul shots.

Dionte Christmas competed well for Boston on both ends of the floor. He was an active defender, picking up two steals and consistently made plays throughout the game. Jonathan Gibson came off the bench and shot 3/3 from downtown for 11 points in 12 minutes.

Rookie John Jenkins led the Hawks with 12 points 3 rebounds & 1 steal on 5/14 shooting. He shot two air balls in the first half however made some nice pull ups in the second. Benson was busy in the first half, posting a double-double. He did pick up a steal fronting Sullinger in the post early in the 2nd half but didn’t do much else beyond that. He finished with the 10 points and 10 rebounds he had at halftime. Second rounder Mike Scott was looking for his shot and made a couple early from the top of the key and also finished 5/14 from the field. His highlight came when he stole a poor inbounds pass from Christmas and finished with a nice dunk. Scott had 12 points & 6 rebounds.

Boston is back tomorrow against Chicago.

Dallas Mavericks (2-0) 85 Toronto Raptors 75
Boxscore

The Mavs kept the Raptors from winning their first SL game running their record to 0-3 with the 10 point win.

Dominic Jones followed up a SL high 32 point game with a team high 21 points to lead Dallas to a perfect 2-0 record. Second round rookie forwards Jae Crowder and Bernard James pitched in 15 pts and 13 pts respectively.

Ed Davis led all scorers with 23 points. Veteran PG Bobby Brown had 19 pts off the bench for Toronto. 8th overall pick Terrence Ross had 11 on 5/12, struggling from deep (1/5 3p)

Houston Rockets 113 Sacramento Kings 91
Boxscore

The Houston Rockets improved their summer league record to 2-1 this afternoon, defeating the Sacramento Kings 113-91. All of the Rockets draft picks reached doubles figures lead by #12 pick Jeremy Lamb.

Lamb was hot early, scoring in a variety of ways for 11 first quarter points. He slowed the remainder of the game and didn’t bother the scorers table too much, finishing the game with 19 points and 2 rebounds. Donatas Motiejunas roller coaster ride continued with another great game following a dud. He collected 19 points and 6 rebounds in 25 minutes. He ran the floor well and showed more energy. Consider it similar to a lifetime achievement award after his first game performance, we gave the Player of the Day to Donatas in the Rockets win.

Terrence Jones had a good game off the bench, showing better decision making with the ball in his hands. He scored 17 points and had 8 rebounds.

#16 pick Royce White handled the ball more today and looked the best he has in his three games so far. White pushed a triple double finishing with 11 points 10 rebounds and 7 assists on 4/6 shooting.

2nd year forward Marcus Morris dropped 11 points & 8 rebounds while former D-League star Gary Forbes added 11 points in 16 minutes. Scott Machado had a good game, dishing out some nice passes for a line of 6pts 10assists 3 rebounds & 3 steals.

Jimmer Fredette was one of the only Kings players to shine today, dropping 30 points. Fredette had little trouble getting his looks against Machado & Courtney Fortson (11pts 3assists), using screens well and connecting on a series of pull up jumpers. He was aggressive early getting to the rim and went a perfect 8/8 from the line. Fredette has been under whelming in his first two games, averaging just 11 points on 23% shooting so would’ve been pleasing for Kings staff and fans to see today’s performance.

#5 pick Thomas Robinson had another disappointing game. He started slow and didn’t finish much better. He didn’t make a field goal until midway through 3rd period and came up limping after missing a left handed lay-up. Robinson managed to post 10 points and grab 8 rebounds & 3 assists in 30 minutes of action.

Michael Lee & Tony Mitchell are getting more confident with each game & continued to make solid contributions for Sacramento, both reaching double figures today. Lee posted 12 points 4 rebounds 2 assists & 3 blocks in 25 minutes. Mitchell meanwhile collected 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists & 2 steals in 26 minutes.

Sacramento was without Hassan Whiteside who was waived earlier in the day by the Kings.

Cleveland Cavaliers 94 D-League All Stars 88
Boxscore

Dion Waiters‘ had some positive moments but his struggles continue. He finished with Scouts on hand are mentioning that it’s not just his shooting but his all around attitude and game that is disappointing. He’s not showing much effort defensively and his shooting numbers have been pretty abysmal. aside from the big 3 that he hit to take the lead late in his first game. He’s got the talent to be a dangerous go to scoring option but he still has a lot of skills to improve upon. This is a great opportunity for him to start figuring those things out.

Tyler Zeller played very well notching 19 pts showing good aggressiveness getting to the line 10 times hitting 9. He was 5-8 from the floor. His size and agility is too much for the average summer league big.

Miami Heat 106 Los Angeles Lakers 56
Boxscore

If after the first two games you thought the Lakers Summer League team couldn’t get any worse, then think again. In a history making evening the Miami Heat destroyed Los Angeles, 106-56, to set a new NBA Summer League record for the largest winning margin, topping the previous record of 48 set by Boston back in 2006.

The Miami Heat pummeled the Lakers all game long with six players reaching double figures. Drew Viney continued his good play, showing a range of skills to set the pace early for Miami. Viney did a bit of everything in the first quarter to help the Heat take a huge 22 lead after the first. He picked up a couple of early assists from some sharp passes, knocked down two jump shots and provided some good help defense on Robert Sacre (9pts 1reb 1blk) for a blocked shot. He finished the game with 12 points 4 rebounds 5 assists a block and a steal in 23 minutes of play.

Dexter Pittman scored 14 points in 14 minutes and also made some nice plays. He moves well off the ball to secure position on offence & did a good job fronting Sacre for a steal early in the game. On one occasion he went up a softly for a lay-up which was sent away by Elonu. Pittman learnt from his mistake and flushed one on Elonu less than 30 seconds later. Norris Cole did a good job setting up his team mates and looking after the ball, posting 9 assist to the 1 turnover to go with his 13 points (3/4fg 7/7ft). The Heat’s leader scorer from game 1, Terrel Harris, put up 13 points 3 assists and 3 steals in 20 minutes of court time. Mickell Gladness and Damian Saunders registered 10 & 13 points respectively. Former Memphis Grizzlies Trey Gilder came off the bench and finished with a line of 9 points 6 rebounds and 4 assists in 23 minutes.

In a woeful display, the game got off to an ominous start for LA with Darius Morris called for a charge in the first minute. Morris has the ability to play better than what we’ve seen however some of his judgment tonight was poor. Questionable shot selection and turnovers aside, Morris showed no awareness on one possession in particular and passed the ball with the shot clock about to expire rather than attempt to get a shot up. It’s not the kind of mistake you expect to see from aspiring NBA floor generals.

Yet again, the combination of Morris (4/17), Andrew Goudelock (2/10), Christian Eyenga (3/12) & Darius Johnson-Odom (2/6) combined for shocking shooting numbers, going for 11/45 from the floor tonight.

Chinemelu Elonu provided some positive play for the Lakers. He does look more confident offensively than he did last time he played SL. He scored 6 points, grabbed 10 boards and made 3 impressive blocks in 19 minutes. Lakers fans would’ve enjoyed a throw down by Eyenga from Johnson-Odom but not much else.

One can only imagine what Mike Brown and Mitch Kupchak were discussing in the stands as they watched on.

Minnesota Timberwolves (1-0) 73 Los Angeles Clippers (0-1) 64
Boxscore

The T-Wolves got off to a positive start with a 9 point win over the Clips. Wes Johnson led the T-Wolves in scoring with 16 but his 5-17 statline isn’t convincing anyone that he’s made any strides after being labeled a bust through his first 2 seasons.

For last year’s #2 pick Derrick Williams it was a tale of two halves. As he led the team with 12 points on 4-7 shooting at the half but finished with just 14 points on 5-12 shooting overall. He appears to have trimmed down some and made some nice moves with the ball in the open floor. Williams will get his chance to get significant minutes with Beasley jumping ship to Phoenix.

Terrico White led the Clips with 16 pts off the bench, while Eric Bledsoe, Adam Morrison, and Hilton Armstrong each added 11.

Milwaukee Bucks 76 New Orleans Hornets 68
Boxscore
 

The Milwaukee Bucks made a successful start to their 2012 Summer League with a 76-68 victory over the New Orleans Hornets in the final game of day 4. The Bucks were well led by Tobias Harris & Doron Lamb.

Harris missed out on summer league last year but looked very capable in his first game tonight. He has an NBA body, moved well off the ball and his jumper looks to have improved, displaying a nice arc on his shots. On offence, he showed he can score from the wing by spotting up or putting the ball on the floor and he also ran effective curl cuts which forced the Hornets defense to pay attention. He finished with 19 points (8/15fg) 1 rebound, 1 assist and a block in 35 minutes.

 

Doron Lamb was dangerous on the offensive end as well. Lamb has the ability to knock down the open shot and made some nice drives for his game high 20 points. He also grabbed 4 rebounds.

 

Jarrid Famous was strong off the bench showing some nice moves on the low block. He posted 13 points and 11 rebounds in his 22 minutes.

 

Hornets #10 pick Austin Rivers was aggressive taking the ball to the basket and did a good job getting to the line. When you consider the number of fouls called during Summer League, he was probably unlucky not to get there a couple more times. He actually thanked the official when he got a call in the second quarter, after a couple of no-calls he thought should’ve been fouls. He didn’t make his first field goal until the last minute of the game where he made a driving lay-up to keep the Hornets in touch. He went to the floor multiple times and banged his elbow in the first quarter so it’s tough to say how much that impacted his shooting if at all. He made some good decisions early in the first half, dishing out 5 assists for the game. He also added 6 points (1/6fg 4/8ft) 2 rebounds and a steal.

 

Lance Thomas had a game high 22 points, continuing his solid contributions from game 1. He was called for an illegal pick in the dying seconds which killed any hope of a Hornets comeback win. Darius Miller provided New Orleans with some good minutes, making some nice plays. He shook Harris in the first quarter for a pull up jumper and made an impressive block on former Kentucky teammate Lamb in the second half. Miller had 11 points (4/10fg) 3 boards, 1 assist, a steal and a block for the game.

 

The Hornets get a day off before returning to Thomas & Mack on Wednesday to face the Phoenix Suns.
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4 Comments

  1. This guy completely forgot
    This guy completely forgot that Boston already played 5 games in the Orlando Summer League. Hate to bust your balls pal but all of these first times for sullinger happened about a week and a half ago

  2. Time to give up/showcase

    Time to give up on – Wesley Johnson – did we forget he is like 26 already and still looks like a raw 19 year old. He is always laughing, but nothing is funny about his development the past two years

    Time to showcase – Byron Mullens – forget his 30 last night, this has been brewing all last season. you can tell he really he wants to be a top flight NBA player. if byombo can get it together and be like Ibaka Cha. will be fun to watch and win more than 15 games.

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