Bulls, T-Wolves to meet for summer league title
Through all the exciting plays and sloppy basketball, there’s only one team that has managed to stay perfect in this year’s NBA Summer League.
It’s the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls have used an inside-out attack of forward Bobby Portis and guard Denzel Valentine through the first 10 days to go 6-0. On Sunday, the pair combined for 29 points as the Bulls ousted Cleveland 85-79 in the semifinals before 5,873 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Chicago, the No. 2 seed, will play Minnesota for the summer league championship at 6 p.m. Monday. The Timberwolves defeated Phoenix 93-83 behind guard Tyus Jones’ 29 points.
The Bulls rallied from 13 down to take a 76-75 lead on Valentine’s 3-point field goal with 2:28 to play, then held off the Cavaliers, who were looking to add a summer league title to their recently won NBA championship.
“We’re a close group,” said Portis, who had nine rebounds to go with his 16 points and was a first-team all-summer league selection. “We’ve been together for two weeks now and we do everything together.
“For me, I came to Vegas to prove to the coaches I can play. I didn’t get a lot of time last season so I wanted to show them they can trust me on the floor.”
Six Bulls scored in double figures. In addition to Portis’ 16 and Valentine’s 13, Christiano Felicio had a team-high 18 points, Jerian Grant had 13, Dez Wells chipped in with 11 and Spencer Dinwiddie had 10 off the bench.
Cleveland (4-3) was led by Kay Felder with 22 points and also got 16 from Jordan McRae.
In the first game, the Timberwolves rallied from a 13-point second-quarter deficit and used a 17-3 run over a 6:01 span from late in the third to nearly midway through the fourth quarter to take command 79-69.
Minnesota (4-3) has won four straight since going 0-3 in the first four days of the summer league. At No. 24, the T-Wolves were the lowest seed remaining going into the weekend. Yet they are getting better and more confident with every win.
“It’s great. Everything’s a process competing on this stage,” said Minnesota summer league coach Ryan Saunders. “We just tried to get better day by day and we haven’t changed what we did. We just stayed solid and just did what we do better.”
Indicative of the team’s new-found fight was a hard foul committed by Xavier Silas on Phoenix’s Alan Williams with 4:57 left to play as Silas hammered him en route to the basket for what would have been an easy layup. Williams took exception to the foul and the two players jawed at each other. Both were assessed technical fouls but Silas’ competitiveness put a smile on the face of Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau, who was watching from the first row under the basket.
For Jones, who was selected Sunday as the Most Valuable Player of the summer league, it’s about believing in one another that has Minnesota playing for a championship Monday.
“Coming together and trusting what the coaches want,” he said as the keys to the team’s recent success. “Trusting their game plan and believing.
“We know we’re not going to win this if everyone is playing individually. We’ve been playing as a team, making the extra pass, playing for the guy next to you and that’s what’s worked.”
Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow on Twitter: @stevecarprj
Summer League championship
WHO: Chicago Bulls (6-0) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (4-3)
WHEN: 6 p.m. Monday
WHERE: Thomas & Mack Center
TV: ESPN2
TICKETS: $30 adults, $20 children 12 and under (includes admission to 3:30 p.m. exhibition game between Argentina and Nigeria)
