The final 16 teams have been cut to eight, with a day off on Friday before Saturday’s quarterfinals in Las Vegas. Friday’s action will feature consolation games for the 16 teams no longer in the running for the highly coveted summer league trophy.
Suns 106 Bucks 80
Phoenix outscored Milwaukee 56-28 in the second half en route to an easy win.
The Suns’ stable of young guns all came through on Thursday. T.J. Warren scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting, rookie Devin Booker scored 19 on 7-of-13 shooting, Archie Goodwin had 18 points and six rebounds and Alex Len added 12 and nine.
Rookie Rashad Vaughn led the Bucks with 17 points and Sean Kilpatrick added 16.
Warriors 76 Knicks 54
New York managed just 22 points in the first half and shot 21.7 percent from the field in the game. Yikes.
While Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis shot 3-of-10 from the field for his 12 points, Golden State first rounder Kevon Looney scored 11 points and nine rebounds on 5-of-6 shooting.
James Michael McAdoo continued his strong summer with a 16-point, nine rebound performance. First rounder Jerrian Grant led the Knicks with 14 points.
Mavericks 104 D-League Select 88
Rookie Justin Anderson continues to impress in Vegas. He led Dallas with 23 points as the Mavs shot 50.6 percent from the field.
Dwight Powell and Maalik Wayans each had 22 for Dallas and Jeremy Tyler chipped in 15 points and 11 rebounds.
The D-Leaguers were led by Justin Dentmon, who poured in a game-high 31 points.
Spurs 74 Nets 71
Kyle Anderson continued to dominate foes in Las Vegas, scoring 25 points and grabbing eight rebounds to lead a mini 4th quarter comeback.
Markel Brown led Brooklyn with 17 points and rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 11 and eight boards for the Nets, who were without point guard Ryan Boatright.
Two players impressing in summer league are Jonathan Simmons for San Antonio and Cliff Alexander for Brooklyn.
Pelicans 97 Wizards 81
Seth Curry continues to make a strong case for league MVP and a spot on someone’s NBA roster. Steph’s brother scored a game-high 26 points on 12-of-21 shooting in the win.
Kelly Oubre, the only first round pick in this matchup, struggled to score 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Scott Machado led Washington with 17.
Former UCLA guard Larry Drew continued to turn a few heads in Las Vegas, scoring 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting and dishing out five assists. He leads the league in dimes per game.
Hawks 82 Nuggets 73
Emmanuel Mudiay struggled as Denver took its first loss of summer league. Mudiay scored eight points on 4-of-9 shooting and committed seven turnovers to just one assist in defeat.
Former Arizona big man Brandon Ashley lead all scorers with 18 points for the Hawks. Former Nebraska guard Terran Petteway had a very strong performance for Atlanta, scoring 14 points to go with nine rebounds and seven assists.
Nuggets guard Erick Green led the team with 13 points and former second round pick Joffrey Lauvergne had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Bulls 84 Raptors 80
The top seed in Vegas was done in by none other than McBuckets himself. Chicago’s Doug McDermott had 28 points and eight rebounds as both team shot under 40 percent for the game.
Toronto was led by affiliated players Bruno Caboclo and Norman Powell, who each had 15, and Lucas Noguiera’s 11-point, 16-rebound performance.
Celtics 91 Blazers 85
Boston’s rookies helped them remain undefeated in Vegas.
First round pick Terry Rozier led the team with 19 points and second rounder Jordan Mickey had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Portland got a very strong performance from Noah Vonleh, who led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go with nine rebounds. Rashad James also had 20 for the Blazers.
Friday’s Consolation Schedule (all times Eastern)
Sixers vs Rockets 4 p.m.- Jahlil Okafor is slated to return from his ESPYs leave and goes against summer standout Glen Rice Jr.
Kings vs Heat 4:30 p.m.- Justise Winslow has scored a total of eight points in his last three games. Can he recover against Sacramento?
TimberWolves vs Cavaliers 6 p.m.- Zach LaVine is third in Vegas in scoring and continues to look like another good young piece for Minnesota.
Jazz vs Lakers 6:30 p.m.- Two Los Angeles players are in the top 15 in scoring, but it’s Jabari Brown and Jordan Clarkson— not D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle.
Nets vs D-League Select 8 p.m.- After a strong rookie season for Brooklyn, Markel Brown is continuing to show promise here in Vegas.
Bucks vs Knicks 8:30 p.m.- This will be the last summer game for the Knicks and Porzingis, whose minutes have been curtailed as he deals with a minor hip ailment.
Wizards vs Nuggets 10 p.m.- Denver coach Mike Malone told me earlier this week that he thinks Mudiay can be a double-double player. Right now, he’s fourth in Vegas with 5.8 assists per game.
Blazers vs Raptors 10:30 p.m.- Two of the underrated point guards in Vegas— Tim Frazier and Delon Wright— clash as both are in the top five in assists per game out west.
Saturday’s Quarterfinals (all times Eastern)
Spurs vs Celtics 4 p.m.- Boston first rounder R.J. Hunter built his reputation on shooting, but he’s scored 14 points per game in Vegas because he’s been very good at getting to the free throw line.
Mavericks vs Hawks 6 p.m.- Justin Anderson has made 36.4 percent of his threes in Las Vegas. If he keeps up that percentage, he’ll have a nice role early on with Dallas.
Bulls vs Suns 8 p.m.- Chicago first rounder Bobby Portis is shooting a poor 41.4 percent from the field, but has averaged over seven rebounds and a block per game. He’ll need to use all his tools to make the Bulls’ deep frontcourt rotation.
Warriors vs Pelicans 10 p.m.– There’s isn’t much more Seth Curry can do to prove his worth to NBA teams. Next up is his older brother’s team. Luckily for Seth, Steph won’t be stepping on that Vegas floor.
You mention Delon Wright, the ‘underrated’ point guard, as a reason to watch the Raptors-Blazers game.
Delon is indeed massively underrated (and won’t play in the Blazers game). He is the reason that the Raptors were (1) the top seed, and (2) lost to Chicago.
The two games that Delon Wright started, the Raptors won by an average of 20 points. Then he stretched a hamstring and went on the DNP list. The result? A narrow third victory, and a narrow Vegas playoff loss to Chicago – one of the teams they had previously destroyed by 20 points.
Basically, it looks like Delon Wright was personally responsible for a swing of 20 points every game … through making every around him better.