It's back! For the first time since 2008, the NBA has Summer League basketball in Utah as the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs, and Utah Jazz will send their youngest talent to Salt Lake City for three games in four nights. This season, nine first-round picks from the past two drafts will take the court for their team with the hopes of improving as a player, catching their head coach's eye, and bringing home the Utah Summer League championship.
Today's Results
Game 1
Philadelphia 71
San Antonio 74
Notables
PHI-Jahlil Okafor
20 points (10-22), 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, & 1 steal.
SA-Dairis Bertans
19 points (6-10), 2 rebounds, 3 assists, & 1 steal.
The ball was tipped and the third overall pick in this year's draft, Philadelphia's Jahlil Okafor, was finally an NBA player. Yet it was not the former Duke Freshman that stared to begin the game, but San Antonio's Dairis Bertans. Bertans, a twenty-five year old from Latvia, came out ready to play in his first summer league game as he scored nine of the Spurs' twenty first quarter points to get them off to a two-point lead.
Bertans would nail another one of his game-high five three-pointers in a very offensively absence second quarter that sent the Spurs into the locker room ahead by four. How did Jahlil Okafor do in his first half of professional basketball? The nineteen-year old struggled greatly and only made three of his eleven attempts from the field. Luckily for him, no one would remember his early woes due to his second half performance. Immediately in the third quarter, the six-foot, eleven-inch prospect made his presence felt as he stole a pass and took it "coast-to-coast" to tie the ballgame at thirty-four.
Later, Okafor would contribute six more of his game-high twenty points to a 76ers' run that would put Philadelphia up eleven late in the period. Momentum was completely shifted in Salt Lake City, yet the Spurs overcame the Sixers' increased confidence and raced off twelve consecutive points to steal back the lead early in the fourth quarter. San Antonio's advantage would not hold though as the teams were tied with under thirty seconds to go. It was Philadelphia looking for a late game lead, as T.J. McConnell attempted a layup that the Spurs' Livio Jean-Charles rejected.
Off the block, the Spurs pushed the ball and were able to convert an ally-opp tip-in from Bertans to Jean-Charles with 8.2 seconds remaining. On the insuing Sixers' possession, Jahlil Okafor would make a huge mistake by dribbling out of bounds on the baseline while looking for three-point shooter Jordan McRea in the corner. Since there were only 4.7 ticks left on the clock, Philadelphia had to foul and sent Bertans to the free-throw line in the hope he would miss one.
After making the first free throw, the Spurs' leading scorer on the night did exactly what Philadelphia hoped by clanking the second. With the door wide open for the 76ers to tie the game, Jordan McRea, who made three three-pointers on the night, fired the shot to tie the game. Unfortunately for the former Tennessee guard, it sailed wide right of the rim for an air ball that clinched victory for San Antonio. In his pro debut, Jahlil Okafor finished with a game-high twenty points to go along with nine rebounds.
Game 2
Boston 82
Utah 100
Notables
BOS-Marcus Smart
26 points (6-20), 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, & 1 block.
UTAH-Rodney Hood
***Utah Summer League Star of the Day
23 points (9-17), 10 rebounds, 4 assists, & 2 steals.
He wasn't even suppose to play tonight, but the Utah Jazz are really glad Rodney Hood suited up. Hood, who averaged 8.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in fifty games during his rookie season with Utah, had suffered a shoulder sprain in a summer league practice Saturday, yet that did not keep the Duke product from scoring the first points of the game to engage the home crowd early in the Jazz's first home summer league game in seven years.
From that point, it did not take long, two minutes to be exact, for Boston's 2014 first-round pick Marcus Smart to silence the fans with an old fashion three-point play. Smart would continue showcasing his talent with back-to-back three pointers in route to a thirteen-point first quarter that put the Celtics up five heading into the second. More Boston production came at the start of the new period as 2015 first-round pick Terry Rozier extended the Celtics' lead to ten with his first two baskets in the NBA.
Despite the Jazz looking out of rhythm, 2014 first-round pick Dante Exum was able to net his first field goal of the game, which spurred Utah on a 27-6 run to take his team to the locker room up eleven. Although Boston would make mini-runs behind second year guards James Young and Marcus Smart, the Jazz always answered with scoring spurts of their own to keep the deficit large on the way to an eighteen-point victory this evening. With many encouraging sights in the play of Rodney Hood, Dante Exum, Jack Cooley, and Bryce Cotton, there were two scary moments at the EnergySolutions Arena as Grant Jerrett dislocated his shoulder in the third quarter, and Exum rolled his left ankle driving to the basket with 1:50 remaining in the contest.
As of now, there have been no reports on the status of either player for tomorrow's summer league matchup against the Spurs, yet no one should be surprised if both sit out the contest. The fifth overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft (Exum) was having a great game of twenty points, five rebounds, and five assists prior to injuring his ankle while Marcus Smart, the sixth pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, finished the night with twenty-six points on six for twenty shooting, five rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and one block. Nonetheless Utah's Rodney Hood, who was taken seventeen selections behind Smart, stole the show and tallied a double-double of twenty-three points and ten rebounds in Utah's win.
2014 First-Round Picks In Action
-Joel Embiid PHI (#3 Pick)
---Will not participate in summer league due to lingering right foot injury.
-Dante Exum UTAH (#5 Pick)
---20 points (5-11), 5 rebounds, & 5 assists.
-Marcus Smart BOS (#6 Pick)
---26 points (6-20), 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, & 1 block.
-James Young BOS (#17 Pick)
---12 points (4-11), 3 rebounds, & 1 assist.
-Rodney Hood UTAH (#23 Pick)
---23 points (9-17), 10 rebounds, 4 assists,& 2 steals.
-Kyle Anderson SA (#30 Pick)
---8 points (2-9), 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, & 1 steal.
2015 First-Round Picks In Action
-Jahlil Okafor PHI (#3 Pick)
---20 points (10-22), 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, & 1 steal.
-Trey Lyles UTAH (#12 Pick)
---Did not play due to contract holdup with team.
-Terry Rozier BOS (#16 Pick)
---7 points (3-8), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, & 2 steals.
-R.J. Hunter BOS (#28 Pick)
---0 points (0-5), 2 rebounds, 1 assists, & 3 steals.
Standings
1. San Antonio 1-0 (3 pts)
2. Utah 1-0 (2 pts)
3. Boston 0-1 (2 pts)
4. Philadelphia 0-1 (1 pt)
Tomorrow's Slate
7:00 PM
Boston - Philadelphia
9:00 PM
San Antonio - Utah
Tomorrow's Game of the Day
9:00 PM
San Antonio - Utah
Two teams will enter, but only one will leave a game away from being outright Utah Summer League Champions. With the fanfare in Salt Lake City for the Jazz, the Spurs will be partaking in a true road game when they take on the home team of the event tomorrow night. If Utah point guard Dante Exum cannot play in the battle of the 1-0 teams, one should look to Rodney Hood to continue to take over as the team's primary scorer. For San Antonio, first-round pick Kyle Anderson will try to rebound from a rough shooting performance (two for nine) while Dairis Bertans will try to replicate his nineteen-point, five three-pointer performance from tonight's victory over Philadelphia.