Despite Beaubois’ 28 points, Mavs denied victory
Despite Rodrigue Beaubois scoring 28 points, Dallas lost to Houston 87-78 to conclude the action on Day 2 of the NBA Vegas Summer League at Cox Pavilion.
The Rockets took control of the game with a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter after a 3-pointer by J.R. Giddens got the Mavericks within two points at 68-66.
Omar Samhan added 17 points and six rebounds for the Mavericks.
Jermaine Taylor continued his strong play for the Rockets. Taylor scored 21 on the heels of his 25-point effort on Friday night.
No stranger to Las Vegas
As a member of the Utah basketball team, Kim Tillie got the chance to play in Las Vegas several times each year.
“I’m really comfortable in this gym. It’s like a home away from home,” he said after scoring 11 points and grabbing three rebounds for Golden State on Saturday night. “We played here like three times a year between exhibitions and our game against UNLV and then the conference tournament. I’ve been here a lot.”
Tillie said the comfort level is important to his success thus far in two games for the Warriors as he tries to reach his goal of making an NBA roster.
After a solid, but far from spectacular career in Salt Lake City, he agreed to terms with a professional team in his native France.
But Tillie wasn’t about to give up on reaching the top league in the world.
Just days before the summer league was set to begin, he found out the Warriors may be in need of a forward for the event with first-round pick Ekpe Udoh possibly out because of a wrist injury.
Golden State brought Tillie in to practice on Wednesday and Thursday and said a decision would be made on whether to bring him aboard on the summer league roster after those practices.
“Thursday night, I went up to the coaches and asked, ‘Am I going home or can I stay,’” he recounted. “I really wanted to stay and they said they needed me and now I’m here with this chance.”
Tillie said he plans to make the most of it.
“No one really knows who I am. This is just a great opportunity for me to show what I can do on the court.”
Coming up
Several new teams will be in action tomorrow, including the Washington Wizards and top pick John Wall.
New York, Portland and Miami will also open their summer league slates.
The Heat will be interesting to watch as the team has several roster openings behind their superstar triumvirate.
While the eyes of the basketball world are on Miami, the eyes of the Heat organization will undoubtedly be on Las Vegas over the next week as they look for players capable of helping the team next season.