The D-League Select team had a scrimmage yesterday against the Japanese national team, and you'd barely know it. The NBA's Summer League page doesn't mention it at all, while the D-League's website has a write-up but no boxscore. Jasper Johnson shot - and made - a three-pointer! I'm not really sure what distinguished that game from the rest of Summer League to make it only a "scrimmage" and not a game worth keeping track of (probably something to do with Jasper Johnson making a three-pointer), but I hope the NBA keeps the D-League team's boxscores in the future and doesn't shortchange these worthy players. And with that, on to the "real" games.
San Antonio Spurs 92, New Orleans Hornets 86
Malik Hairston shot the ball very efficiently, making seven of his 11 field goals, and both of his three-pointers, on the way to 16 points. He didn't do much else even though he's a pretty good rebounder. That's likely because DeJuan Blair did most of the rebounding for the Spurs. Blair made a statement in his first game, grabbing 10 boards in 22 minutes. Darren Collison had a solid day running the point for the Hornets, with 19 points on 13 shots, six assists and five rebounds, and Collison generally made good decisions with the ball. Julian Wright had a solid all-around game as well, with 15 points on 13 shots, seven rebounds, three blocks and two assists, and importantly for Wright, only two turnovers and one foul. George Hill did a great job of getting to the free-throw line, making all 11 of his shots there, and he had four rebounds and three assists, though also four turnovers.
Romel Beck showed off his efficient scoring, making half of his field goals and all of his free throws, and he added three rebounds. Anthony Tolliver had a pretty good game, with nine points on four shots and five rebounds, though he turned the ball over four times in 25 minutes. Brian Cusworth had four rebounds and two blocks in 17 minutes, but also six fouls and three turnovers.
The other games (except for D-League vs. Japan) are after the jump.
Houston Rockets 79, Minnesota Timberwolves 65
Joey Dorsey had another very good game, with eight points on two field goals (he shot 4-6 from the line), 16 rebounds and four blocks. He could stand to reduce his fouls and turnovers, but so far he might be having the best Vegas Summer League. James White also had a very efficient scoring day, with 14 points on nine shots. Not too many of the Timberwolves shot the ball very well, and several of them relied on the free-throw line to increase their shooting efficiency. Oleksiy Pecherov is pretty much made for Summer League at this point. He was quite possibly the best rebounder on the Wizards the last few years, though too much of his offensive game takes place behind the arc. In this one he grabbed five rebounds in a little under 19 minutes and made two of his three three-pointers, though he made only one of his five other field goals.
Rob Kurz didn't make much of an impression in the Orlando Summer League, but he had a decent game yesterday, making all three of his field goals (which included a pair of three-pointers). He had four fouls and four turnovers, though. Will Conroy had three assists and three rebounds in about 18 minutes, as well as a blocked shot. He also had only two fouls and one turnover, which is nice to see. Adam Parada took Steven Hill's place on Minnesota's roster, and while he missed all of his field goals, turned the ball over four times and had six fouls, he also had nine rebounds (five defensive, four offensive) in 10 and a half minutes. Parada's a seven-foot, 265-pound center who had a cup of coffee in the D-League and with the Sacramento Kings, and most recently he's been playing in the Philippines.
Milwaukee Bucks 80, Cleveland Cavaliers 69
Cleveland scored nine points in the third quarter. Ugh. The Cavs' first round pick Christian Eyenga played fairly well off the bench, with 10 points on six shots and three rebounds. Brandon Jennings shot the ball, uh, a lot, but he finished with 23 points on 18 shots and made half of his three-pointers and also had eight assists and five steals. Amir Johnson didn't shoot the ball particularly well and picked up eight fouls, though he had six rebounds and three steals. Tarence Kinsey's contract is unguaranteed until the end of the month, and he was one of those players I mentioned who shot the ball pretty poorly (3-10) but who did well from the line to make up for it (8-10). He also had six rebounds.
Jawad Williams made two of his three three-pointers and had six rebounds and a pair of steals, though he made only one of his six other field goals. Maureece Rice struggled to score again, but in this game he four assists in a little over 13 minutes, which is nice to see from him.
Memphis Grizzlies 86, Oklahoma City Thunder 57
The Thunder scored seven points in the fourth quarter. Ugh. It remains to be seen whether this is some kind of wake up call after Oklahoma City was one of the better teams in Orlando, or whether they're just tired. Russell Westbrook and Kyle Weaver were the only Thunder players to score in double figures, and Weaver made three of his five three-pointers. Marcus Williams (the Connecticut one) needed nine shots to score seven points, though he also had 17 assists and only one turnover, as well as four rebounds. Darrell Arthur had a decent all-around game, with 11 points on nine shots, eight rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal.
Trey Gilder played pretty well in about 14 minutes off the bench and three rebounds. Let's see...there weren't too many other D-League or undrafted players who a.) played, and b.) played well in this one. Both OKC and Memphis have a fair amount of NBA guys on their roster. Hamed Haddadi had five points on three shots, three rebounds and two steals in 16 minutes.
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