NBA Summer League Blog Day 1: Lakers, Raptors score first day wins
July 8, 2016 - 10:13 pm
NBA Summer League action begins today in Las Vegas and we’re live-blogging from the Thomas & Mack and Cox Pavilion each day.
Follow along with our live blog, which will be updated throughout the day, below.
9:45 p.m.
— Final scores from two night games:
Cox Pavilion: Raptors 88, Kings 47
Thomas & Mack Center: Lakers 85, Pelicans 65
8:45 p.m.
— NBA head coaches Luke Walton (Los Angeles Lakers), Alvin Gentry (New Orleans Pelicans) and Tyronn Lue (Cleveland Cavaliers) all took in the first half of the Lakers-Pelicans game in the Thomas & Mack Center.
7:50 p.m.
— Prior to tipoff in the Los Angeles Lakers-New Orleans Pelicans game, there was a moment of silence for former UNLV guard Bryce Dejean-Jones, who died on May 28 after a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
The jumbotron showed a picture of Dejean-Jones next to 1992-2016.
7:45 p.m.
— Final scores from two afternoon games:
Cox Pavilion: Atlanta Hawks 83, Houston Rockets 78
Thomas & Mack Center: Denver Nuggets 88, Minnesota Timberwolves 82
6:55 p.m.
— Below is a list of local players that will be competing in the 2016 NBA Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion.
HIGH SCHOOL
Pierre Jackson (Desert Pines, class of 2009) – Portland Trailblazers
Gary Payton II (Spring Valley, class of 2011) – Houston Rockets
Rosco Allen (Bishop Gorman, class of 2012) – Golden State Warriors
FINDLAY PREP
DeAndre Liggins (class of 2008) – Cleveland Cavaliers
Victor Rudd (brief stint) – Miami Heat
Jabari Brown (brief stint) – Los Angeles Lakers
Brandon Ashley (class of 2012) – Atlanta Hawks
Winston Shepard (class of 2012) – Golden State Warriors
Christian Wood (class of 2013) – Philadelphia Sixers
Rashad Vaughn (class of 2014) — Milwaukee Bucks
Kelly Oubre (class of 2014) – Washington Wizards
UNLV
Wood (2013-15) — Philadelphia Sixers
Vaughn (2014-15) — Milwaukee Bucks
Patrick McCaw (2014-16) — Golden State Warriors
Derrick Jones (2015-16) — Sacramento Kings
Chris Obekpa (2015-16) — Miami Heat
6:25 p.m.
—Tennis Hall of Famers Andre Agassi and Stephanie Graf were at the Thomas & Mack to watch their daughter Jaz perform with her dance team at halftime of the Nuggets-Timberwolves game. They also decided to take in a little basketball as well.
Graf will likely be up early Saturday to watch Angelique Kerber try to defeat Serena Williams in the ladies’ final at Wimbledon. Kerber, like Graf, is a native of Germany and she has visited Graf in Las Vegas to work on her game
5:55 p.m.
— Houston’s Chinanu Onuaku got to the foul line in the second quarter vs. Atlanta and made one of his two free throws underhanded. That’s right, underhanded. Rick Barry would have been proud, sort of. Barry, a career 89 percent shooter, would have made ‘em both.
As Onuaku made the second, a fan yelled at Dwight Howard, who was sitting courtside: “Hey Dwight, watch. Maybe you can learn something!” Howard is a career 57 percent shooter from the line.
5:50 p.m.
— Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau is sitting in the Thomas & Mack Center to watch fifth-overall pick Kris Dunn (Providence) take on the Denver Nuggets’ Emmanuel Mudiay, who was the seventh overall pick in 2015.
5:35 p.m.
— Another significant injury for a first round pick: Rookie center Georgios Papagiannis, the 13th pick overall, will undergo a precautionary MRI Saturday after experiencing left knee stiffness this week, the team announced.
He missed Friday’s game against the Toronto Raptors and his status will be updated on Saturday afternoon.
5:30 p.m.
— Final scores from the day’s first two games:
Cox Pavilion: Milwaukee Bucks 81, Cleveland Cavaliers 75
Thomas & Mack Center: Memphis Grizzlies 99, D-League Select 79
5:10 p.m.
— Minnesota Timberwolves guard/forward Shabazz Muhammad, who graduated from Bishop Gorman High in 2012, took in the second half of the Memphis Grizzlies and D-League Select game in the Thomas & Mack Center. He signed autographs for a few fans.
4:35 p.m.
— Memphis Grizzlies rookie center Deyonta Davis, who was selected with the 31st overall pick in this year’s draft out of Michigan State, has plantar fasciitis in his left foot and is not playing right now in the Thomas & Mack Center.
He is expected to miss three summer league games, according to multiple reports.
3:55 p.m.
— Dallas Mavericks guard Seth Curry, the brother of two-time defending league Most Valuable Player, Steph Curry, is sitting courtside in the Thomas & Mack Center for the D-League Select and Memphis Grizzlies game.
3:15 p.m.
— Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd and Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue are both in the Cox Pavilion, watching their teams face off in the day’s first game.
2 p.m.
— The doors are open and they’re filing into Cox Pavilion for the start of the summer league’s 11-day run. Tipoff between Milwaukee and Cleveland is an hour away.
1:40 p.m.
— The NBA unveiled its new timing system which was designed by Tissot, a company based in LeLocle, Switzerland.
The system, which took eight months to develop, is supposed to be more instantaneous, offer better clarity and performance. The translucent background also makes it easier for fans watching from behind the backboard to see on-court action through the clock.
The system will be used at the summert league and then be implemented in the league’s 29 arenas for the regular season.
1:20 p.m.
— The Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers will open the 2016 Summer League at 3 p.m. in the Cox Pavilion. Last year, LeBron James attended and was seen in a custom-made Cleveland Indians baseball jersey, which had the No. 23 sitting below, “King James.”
— The D-League Select and Memphis Grizzlies kick off at 3:30 p.m. in the Thomas & Mack Center.
1:15 p.m.
— This is the 12th consecutive year the Summer League has come to Las Vegas.
— At 2:50 p.m. at the Cox Pavilion, Mayor Carolyn Goodman will proclaim Friday, July 8, 2016 Samsung NBA Summer League Day in Las Vegas. The proclamation will include NBA Players, coaches and executives, as well as NBA Summer League Executive Director, Warren LeGarie and VP of Business Operations, Albert Hall.
12:45 p.m.
— The Summer League doesn’t tip off for another two hours but the July 18 championship game will have a bonus game for fans who attend as Argentina and Nigeria will meet in a pre-Olympic exhibition game at 4 p.m. Argentina will stay in town and face Team USA July 22 at T-Mobile Arena.
This blog will be updated throughout the day. Check back for updates.
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