The Miami Heat, featuring the tenth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft Justise Winslow, may be undefeated heading into their final game before Championship Friday, but they have certainly not dominated in City Beautiful since their opening day sixteen-point victory against the Indiana Pacers. In fact, if it were not for a buzzer-beating game-winning layup off an alley-oop from guard Tyler Johnson then the Heat would have no chance of being one or two in the standings after Thursday's action. With that the case, the Los Angeles Clippers walked into the Amway Center practice gym today with the intention to add the first blemish to the Heat's record.
Today's Results
Game 1
2-0 (13 pts) Orlando White 81
1-2 (9 pts) Charlotte 68
Notables
ORW-Keith Benson
16 points (5-8), 3 rebounds, & 2 blocks.
CHA-Kevin Murphy
12 points (4-7), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, & 1 block.
If someone is looking for an underdog story at Orlando Summer League this year, look no further than Orlando White. Orlando White, a squad created due to there being an odd number of teams in the league without them, is made up of D-League players and free-agents hoping to get a chance to play somewhere in the NBA this upcoming season and despite the fact, they have ruled their opponents by winning all games by nine or more points, including today.
The Charlotte Hornets led Orlando for thirty-two seconds in the first quarter, yet for the remainder of the game, they were not ahead another moment. What happened?
The game started just as it did Monday for White as the tallest player on the court Jordan Bachynski put "the biscuit in the basket" to take a 2-0 advantage. After the two teams traded field goals for about six minutes, the Hornets' Justin Burrell made just his third shot of the week, giving Charlotte a 9-8 lead. Then as previously mentioned, only thirty-two seconds later Orlando's leading scorer Keith Appling made a layup, opening the floodgates for a 35-19 run that took the teams to halftime. The duo of Keith Benson and Scottie Wilbekin were huge during the spurt and ended up outscoring their opponent seventeen (eleven from Benson and six by Wilbekin) to thirteen in the second quarter! While Charlotte shot awful in the first half, former Utah Jazz second-round pick Kevin Murphy was a bright spot and netted all twelve of his points during the first twenty minutes.
Although the Hornets were finally able to win a quarter and cut the deficit to single digits in the third (thanks to rookies Frank Kaminsky and Aaron Harrison breaking out of shooting slumps), Orlando was able to not only put down the rally but put the game out of reach to begin the fourth quarter by going on a 10-2 surge.
Despite only scoring sixty-eight, four Hornets' players were able to finish in double-figures including Aaron Harrison, who posted a team high fifteen, and Frank Kaminsky, who scored all thirteen of his points in the second half. For Orlando, Oakland University product Keith Benson led the way with a game high sixteen points while former Florida Gator Scottie Wilbekin chipped in fifteen.
Game 2
0-2 (4 pts) Indiana 65
1-2 (9 pts) Detroit 90
Notables
IND-Joe Young
25 points (9-15), 3 rebounds, & 5 assists.
DET-Stanley Johnson
***Summer League Star of the Day
20 points (8-15), 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, & 2 blocks.
One of the most intense rivalries in basketball during the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 seasons was between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons as the two faced off both years in the playoffs and were a part of the infamous "Malice in the Palace." This afternoon Indiana and Detroit met again on the hardwood and despite no brawl occurring, both teams' 2015 first-round selections stared.
The action was very back and forth to begin the game as no team was able to take more than a one possession lead until the 2:09 mark. Yet just as game one on Wednesday, when one team was finally able to add onto a lead, the other never recovered. Just happened in game two, the leading team was the Pistons.
As soon as Detroit took their four-point lead, they ended the quarter with four consecutive points. Little did anyone know it would only get worse from there for the Pacers.
Early in the second period with the score 28-18 Pistons, the squad from Motown went on a 12-4 run to nearly double their advantage! Then, the eighth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft Stanley Johnson rolled off six points in a row for his team to take Detroit into the halftime locker room with a nineteen-point lead.
Although there were very few positives to take away from today's beat down if one is a Pacers' fan, the play of 2015 second-round pick Joe Young, specifically in the third quarter, is definitely one. Young, a prolific scoring guard from Oregon University, would score eleven of his game high twenty-five points in a four minute span in the third quarter. Nonetheless, his five consecutive shots made were unable to put a dent in Detroit's winning margin that would become a twenty-five-point victory.
In addition to Young, Indiana's 2015 lottery pick Myles Turner had another impressive performance this afternoon by scoring a pro high twenty-three points in addition to grabbing eight rebounds and blocking four shots. For the 2-2 Pistons, their top ten pick from the 2015 Draft Stanley Johnson dominated both ends of the floor and stuffed the stat sheet with a double-double of twenty points and ten rebounds to go along with two assists, two blocks, and three steals.
Game 3
1-2 (11 pts) Los Angeles Clippers 85
3-0 (19 pts) Miami 87
Notables
LAC-Diante Garrett
20 points (9-18), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, & 3 steals.
MIA-Willie Reed
17 points (7-10), 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, & 4 block.
If someone would have said that the Heat's 2015 lottery pick Justise Winslow would play only seven minutes and score zero points, one would conclude that he was injured and Miami was beaten badly. Neither was the case when the team from South Beach faced the Los Angeles Clippers in their pursuit to go undefeated in summer league.
From the tip, the Heat looked like a team on a mission led by 2014 first-round pick Shabazz Napier. Napier, who missed the first three summer league contests in Orlando due to him recovering from hernia surgery, wasted no time in letting everyone know he was on the court as he scored or assisted on eight of the Heat's first eleven points. While the NCAA Men's Basketball National Champion at UConn was off to a fantastic start, so was the Clippers' Branden Dawson and Diante Garrett, who guided Los Angeles to a 28-20 lead heading into the second quarter. L.A.'s lead would stay at least six until big man Heat Willie Reed started an 8-0 run to end the half and steal the lead from the Clippers going into the break.
To begin the third quarter, the Heat started right where they left off and fired off ten straight points, five from Zoran Dragic, to extend a two-point halftime lead to twelve! Less than seven minutes later with the Clippers' having deflated the lead to eight, Rodney McGruder supplied five points (all from the charity stripe) in eighteen seconds, which killed all the momentum Los Angeles had. Or so the Heat thought.
Prior to today's contest, Clippers guard D.J. Newbill had eight total summer league points. In the fourth quarter against Miami, he had ten. In addition, Diante Garrett scored six of his game high twenty points in the final ten minutes, which drew LA's deficit to eight with 4:22 left in regulation. Would there be enough time to dwindle the margin down to a single possession? Yes, as Branden Dawson brought the Clippers within three with a made layup off an alley-oop. After D.J. Newbill unintentionally fouled Miami's Dragic and he missed both free throws, C.J. Wilcox made his only three pointer of the game to fully overcome the double-digit deficit and tie the game at 85.
With the feeling that the game was slipping away, Napier attempted a wild floater that was short off rim and landed in the hands of Garrett. Off the rebound, the Clippers immediately pushed the ball upcourt but ultimately passed it back out when there was not a fast break opportunity. Garrett had the ball out front and started his attack to the rim off a Yanick Moreira screen with nine seconds left. The Iowa State product then attempted a left handed layup with seven seconds left (three on shot clock). SWAT! Miami's Willie Reed blocked Garrett's game winning attempt! The ball careened to Napier a split second before he and Wilcox collided. What would be the call be, offensive or defensive foul? The whole game rode on the official's decision. Block! The personal foul went against Wilcox and since the Heat were in the bonus, Napier would have two chances with 3.8 seconds to give his team the lead.
Swish! Swish! Napier made them both. But Los Angeles would have a chance to tie or take the lead. D.J. Newbill, who was inbounding in front of his bench, found Eric Griffin on the right wing. Griffin then drove to the basket and lost control of the ball when going up with his shot. The referees failed to blow their whistle as the buzzer sounded meaning the Heat were 4-0.
In the loss, D.J. Newbill and Branden Dawson both posted professional highs of eighteen and fifteen points respectively while Shabazz Napier bucketed fourteen in his 2015 Summer League debut in addition to Willie Reed scoring seventeen points, grabbing seven rebounds, and swatting four shots.
2014 First-Round Picks In Action
-Shabazz Napier MIA (#24 Pick)
---14 points (4-9), 4 rebounds, & 6 assists.
-P.J. Hairston CHA (#26 Pick)
---14 points (4-8) & 6 rebounds.
-C.J. Wilcox LAC (#28 Pick)
---11 points (2-14), 2 rebounds, 4 assists, & 3 steals.
2015 First-Round Picks In Action
-Stanley Johnson DET (#8 Pick)
---20 points (8-15), 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, & 2 blocks.
-Frank Kaminsky CHA (#9 Pick)
---13 points (4-11), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, & 2 blocks.
-Justise Winslow MIA (#10 Pick)
---0 points (0-2).
-Myles Turner IND (#11 Pick)
---23 points (9-16), 8 rebounds, 2 steals, & 4 blocks.
Standings
1. Miami 4-0 25 pts
2. Orlando White 3-0 20 pts
3. Memphis 3-0 19 pts
4. Detroit 2-2 16 pts
5. Oklahoma City 2-1 13 pts
6. Los Angeles C 1-3 13 pts
7. Charlotte 1-3 10 pts
8. Orlando Blue 1-2 9 pts
9. Brooklyn 0-3 6 pts
10. Indiana 0-3 5 pts
Tomorrow's Slate
1:00 PM
Indiana - Orlando Blue
3:00 PM
Brooklyn - Orlando White
5:00 PM
Oklahoma City - Memphis
Tomorrow's Game of the Day
5:00 PM
Oklahoma City - Memphis
When this game tips tomorrow, the Memphis Grizzlies will know exactly how many points they need to get into the 2015 Orlando Summer League championship. Nonetheless, the Grizz must get a victory against a tough Oklahoma City Thunder team to best ensure a spot in Friday's first place game. While both teams feature talented scorers, Oklahoma City's Semaj Chrison, Frank Gaines, and Mitch McGary in addition to Memphis' Jordan Adams, Russ Smith, and Jarnell Stokes, defense will be key tomorrow as whoever gets the most defensive stops will win the game. Excitingly, everyone will be able to enjoy the individual matchups as the three best players on each team will most likely be matched up against each other on defensive assignments for the majority of the game.