The Orlando Summer League is winding down. We've been afforded early looks at some of the recent draft picks, including Victor Oladipo and Kelly Olynyk, who have both looked pretty good. Again, the competition is about equivalent to the D-league, but at least players made a good showing in Orlando. Friday holds games between all 10 teams involved for places. We may not be all that interested in wins and losses, but Houston and Oklahoma City have escaped unscathed so far and will face each other on the last day of the league. Reggie Johnson vs. Patrick Beverley! Let's took a spin through the Thursday action.
Indiana Pacers 79 Utah Jazz 73
The Pacers improved to 2-2 in summer league play by beating the Jazz despite losing center Miles Plumlee to an ankle sprain in the second half. The injury was not considered serious, but the seven-footer may miss Friday's game as a precaution. Plumlee had seven boards and six points before leaving. Rookie Solomon Hill continued his decent showing with 12 points, all on 3-pointers, three rebounds, and three assists. Orlando Johnson chipped in 12 points, while Jonny Flynn came off the Pacer bench to score one point in five minutes.
Trey Burke had a rough game from the field for the Jazz. The presumptive starter at point guard was just 3-of-15 from the field and missed all five of his 3-point attempts on his way to 11 points. He had four assists and just one turnover. Burke will likely go through a lot of growing pains on the court in 2013-14 if he gets starter's minutes. French rookie Rudy Gobert provided 11 points and eight rebounds (with just five fouls), while former Marquette star Jerel McNeal had 11 points and two steals.
Detroit Pistons 78 Miami Heat 77
This game was marred with some injury news as well with rookie Peyton Siva going down with a sprained ankle. Siva had an impressive nine points, nine assists, and seven steals before leaving the game. Player of the game honors went to Andre Drummond who had 23 points (11-23 FG, 1-2 FT) and 18 boards. There was no one on the Heat roster to match up to Drummond physically and the second-year center dominated. Hopefully, he will get more playing time under new coach Maurice Cheeks. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 15 points, including 8-of-10 from the free throw line.
The Heat were led by Ian Clark who scored 15 points as a starting guard. He played 27 minutes and hit a pair of 3-pointers. Three other members of the Heat scored in double digits, including guard James Ennis, Eric Griffin, and Michael Dunigan (who came to the summer league from Oregon after playing professionally in Israel). Former-Texas guard Myck Kabongo did not score in 11 minutes off the Heat bench, so it looks like he should have stayed in school after being suspended for the majority of the 2012-13 college basketball season.
Houston Rockets 92 Brooklyn Nets 76
After watching him for two years at Kentucky, I thought Terrence Jones might make a decent professional player. In his freshman season, he was the star of a decent team. As a sophomore, he was able to find a role to help his team win the national championship. Jones' minutes were limited as a freshman, but he may get more playing time in 2013-14. Jones had 16 points, five rebounds, and seven assists in the win over Brooklyn. Robert Covington, a 6-7 small forward from Tennessee State, also had 16 points.
It's fairly evident from the Nets' winless summer league performance that Jason Kidd will be a terrible coach. OK, that assessment is not evident or fair. The Nets only shot 36.1 percent from the field. Carleton Scott, a former Notre Dame player, Damian James, and Tyshawn Taylor each had 15 points to lead Brooklyn. Taylor, the former Kansas lead guard, took a nasty fall, but was able to return to the game. Miles Plumlee had six points and five rebounds, while Scott hit five of the team's six 3-pointers.
Orlando Magic 90 Philadelphia 76ers 89
The tanking has started early in Philadelphia, but they will not get a top pick with their performance in Orlando. The winless 76ers lost to the home team despite 23 points and 12 rebounds from Arnett Moultrie. The 6-11 forward from Mississippi State could be a player to watch in fantasy circles because someone is going to score and rebound for Philadelphia. Rookie Michael Carter-Williams had 11 points and nine assists, but turned the ball over eight times. James Southerland came off the bench to score 15 points.
The future of the Magic is represented by Victor Oladipo and the rookie guard continued to show that he could score against summer league competition. He had a game-high 24 points, including three 3-pointers and the game-winning shot over Carter-Williams. Oladipo's assist to turnover ratio remained problematically flat, but the Magic will have Jameer Nelson as the primary ball handler. Andrew Nicholson complemented Oladipo with 23 points, while Moe Harkless had 15. Kyle O'Quinn provided seven points and a team-high 11 boards.