In Vegas for Summer League: Day 3
Our final day attending the first weekend of NBA Summer League in Las Vegas was on Saturday, all at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The first game of the day was a must-see. Magic vs. Kings. Paolo Banchero vs. Keegan Murray.
We mentioned Paolo looking more polished than Jabari in our eyes after seeing the two play on Thursday night, and we felt the same after getting to see them both play again on Saturday.
This play reminded us of something we heard Jay Bilas say about Banchero during ESPN’s pre-draft show, as we were walking by the TV, catching the line out of context: “He has great feet.”
But the real story here was the wild ending to this game.
A Kings 3-pointer by Neemias Queta cut the deficit to just three with 4.3 seconds left. Then the Kings forced a steal in the corner.
Keegan Murray grabbed the loose ball and got to the 3-point line, pumped faked on both Paolo and R.J. Hampton and buried the 3 to tie it up with just 0.2 seconds left, sending the game to OT!
This was one of those shots that we KNEW was going in. Stood up and raised the arms and everything.
The consensus ROAR of the crowd and the palpable buzz in the building was not something we anticipated getting to feel at Summer League. It was splendid.
Still tied after OT, we got Double Overtime Summer League Sudden Death! There isn’t much better than Summer League Sudden Death.
It was a bucket down low by Emanuel Terry (off a pass from Paolo!) that won the game for the Magic.
As good as Paolo has looked, you have to be excited about the enthralling ball from Keegan Murray so far if you’re a Kings fan. He belongs.
In Game 2 of Day 3, the Pistons straight blew the roof off the Wizards doors in the first quarter, hanging 39 points on the Wiz. But then Jaden Ivey got hurt, rolling his ankle when Isaiah Todd was in his landing zone on a 3. Ivey knocked down his free throws but left the game to not return, a definite bummer.
Isaiah Livers had his 3-ball dialed in, knocking down four triples en route to a team-high 20 points. Jordan Schakel was the game’s leading scoring with 24. Wizards rookie and 10th overall draft pick Johnny Davis from Wisconsin struggled mightily in his first game, shooting just 1-of-11 from the field.
This was the game that took FOREVER to end.
The marquee matchup of the day was Chet vs. Jabari in the Thunder-Rockets game.
It was surprising to see Josh Giddey out there. But his hair looked amazing as always.
Chet had a sick block in the second quarter and then he got dunked on just a minute later, a lefty power dunk by Aric Holman in transition. It happens.
Chet is tall and so long, and Jabari is, too. Jabari even had a block on Chet. And Chet had another big block on Eason that started a fastbreak. Both top-3 picks could be studs in the league for a long time. (And Paolo does seem like the safest bet.)
Giddey had a great chance to tie the game and send it to OT at the very end. Alas, his layup off the glass did not go down.
We stuck around for just the beginning of Pelicans-Blazers.
Even for NBA stans as stanny as us, 7+ hours at the gym is a long day, and nearly 20 hours in three days is a lot of hoops.
And we still had some sights to see on our last night in Vegas.
Our first trip to NBA Summer League in Vegas is complete.
Keep grinding.
WE LOVE THIS GAME!
