Here’s what’s happening at NBA Summer League Day 4 — BLOG
Play is underway at Day 4 of the NBA Summer League at the Cox Pavilion and Thomas & Mack Center and we’re live-blogging from both arenas each day.
Follow along with our live blog, which will be updated throughout the day, below.
8:45 p.m.
Buddy Hield exploded for 17 points in the third quarter, sinking 7 of 11 shots (3 of 6 3s) as the Pelicans outscored the Kings 27-11. New Orleans leads 60-56 with 5:45 left in the game at Cox Pavilion.
8:25 p.m.
D’Angelo Russell is putting on a show for those who stayed late at the Thomas & Mack.
The Lakers guard put up 22 first-half points on 7-10 shooting (4-6 from three) for Los Angeles, which leads Golden State 43-27 at halftime.
Brandon Ingram didn’t make a field goal in the first half but grabbed four rebounds.
8:15 p.m.
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry talks with rookie Buddy Hield as the No. 6 overall pick in the draft takes the floor before the second half of New Orleans’ game against Sacramento. Gentry laughs and Hield smiles sheepishly as the former Oklahoma star stuffs his mouthpiece into his sweaty sock.
Hield shot 2-for-8 in the first half. His Pelicans trail, 36-29, early in the third quarter.
8:10 p.m.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer stopped by the Thomas & Mack to watch the Lakers-Warriors game. Too bad his own team wasn’t in Las Vegas this year. The Clippers opted to go to Orlando for their summer league experience. Word is the Clippers will be back in Vegas next summer.
7:57 p.m.
Tempers flare in the Kings-Pelicans game after Sacramento guard David Stockton is shoved into the stanchion at Cox Pavilion.
Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein and Pelicans center Liam McMorrow and guard Anthony Barber were assessed technical fouls after the play.
Stockton, son of Hall of Famer John Stockton, fed Cauley-Stein for a dunk and another basket on consecutive possessions to help Sacramento to a 31-24 lead late in the first half.
Kings center DeMarcus Cousins and former Sacramento player Peja Stojakovic are watching the game from courtside.
7:25 p.m.
Jamal Murray, Denver’s No. 7 overall draft pick from Kentucky, poured in a game-high 29 points in a 92-81 loss to the Miami Heat at Cox Pavilion.
Murray, who made 10 of 25 shots (2-for-10 3s), hit two straight jumpers in the face of Damion Lee in the fourth quarter and chirped at Miami’s rookie guard from Louisville after each basket. Murray then blew by Lee with a move that had the crowd buzzing but couldn’t finish his drive in traffic.
Lee made 5 of 7 3s and had 17 points and Kansas State product Rodney McGruder made 5 of 8 3s and had 23 points for the Heat.
Former Brigham Young star Jimmer Fredette had 18 points for the Nuggets.
Denver veteran guard Mike Miller was at the game.
The Sacramento Kings lead the New Orleans Pelicans 13-11 in the first quarter.
7:16 p.m.
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr and Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton talked and shared a fist bump at the end of Minnesota’s game against Cleveland.
Walton spent two seasons as an assistant on Kerr’s staff with the Warriors before being hired by Los Angeles.
The Warriors and Lakers are set to tip off at 7:30 p.m. at Thomas & Mack Center.
6:08 p.m.
Jamal Murray, Denver’s No. 7 overall pick from Kentucky, had a steal and breakaway dunk to cap a 17-point first half that helped the Nuggets take a 44-39 halftime lead over the Miami Heat at Cox Pavilion.
The sharpshooter, who almost equaled his output (20 points) in his first two Summer League games, made 6 of 13 shots but only 1 of 5 from 3-point range. Murray is 2-for-12 on 3s in Las Vegas.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is watching the game in the stands.
A Mariachi band performed at halftime as part of the NBA Summer League’s Noche Latina, or Latin Night.
5:58 p.m.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver showed up at Thomas & Mack Center, taking a seat in the second row to watch Minnesota play Cleveland.
Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue is also sitting courtside at the game.
Cleveland leads 20-14 at the end of the first quarter.
5:00 p.m.
Longtime Houston guard and NBA head coach John Lucas sat courtside at the Rockets game against the D-League Select team. Houston big man Clint Capela also sat courtside and chatted with Lucas occasionally.
The rest of the team could have used Lucas’ advice. The Rockets lost 89-71 to the D-League.
Philadelphia guard Isaiah Canaan was also at the game.
4:45 p.m.
The NBA owners are in town for their annual summer meetings. If you’re a Las Vegas hockey fan, you should be especially happy to see Larry Tanenbaum, the owner of the Toronto Raptors. Tanenbaum also owns the NHL Maple Leafs and he was one of the owners on the NHL’s executive committee who recommended the league expand to Las Vegas.
Tanenbaum was at the Thomas & Mack on Monday afternoon to watch his Raptors play Dallas.
Not to be outdone, Mavs owner Mark Cuban was also at the game.
Most owners try to watch their team while in Vegas. So there figures to be more sightings as the day goes on. Phoenix’s Robert Sarver and Sacramento’s Vivek Ranadive have already been on Gucci Row to watch their teams.
4:27 p.m.
Barely a day goes by without someone asking former NBA referee Joey Crawford about the time he ejected Tim Duncan from a 2007 game for laughing at him from the bench.
On the day Duncan announced his retirement from the NBA, Crawford was at the Summer League in Las Vegas. But the 64-year-old declined to talk Monday about the former San Antonio Spurs star or anything else.
“I’m not allowed to say anything,” Crawford, 64, said at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Crawford, who retired this year because of knee problems after 39 seasons, officiated 50 Finals games and 2,561 regular-season games but is perhaps best known for ejecting the mild-mannered Duncan, who was ejected only twice in 19 seasons.
Duncan contended that Crawford challenged him to a fight and the ref was suspended for the rest of the season by then-commissioner David Stern.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Do you want to fight? Do you want to fight?’” Duncan said in 2007. “If he wants to fight, we can fight. I don’t have any problem with him, but we can do it if he wants to. I have no reason why in the middle of a game he would yell at me, ‘Do you want to fight?’”
While Crawford declined to be interviewed Monday, he discussed the incident in March with The Associated Press, ESPN and USA Today:
“There are situations that you regret. The Duncan thing is always a big thing, I regret that,” Crawford said. “There are numerous interactions that you have with players and coaches, that you get back into the hotel and say, ‘Why did I say that to him? Why did I do that? That was dumb! Stupid!’ Those kind of things wore on me. My last nine to 10 years was a lot better because I wasn’t going through the inner turmoil. … After I went to a sports psychologist, I knew when I screwed up and I tried not to do it again, and even if I did screw up, I would apologize immediately. … As bad or as hard as that was to go through in 2007, it was something I did, I learned from it. I was lucky that Stern gave me my job back and I moved on. I tried to use it as a positive. It was hard to use it as a positive because there was so much negative that came out of it.”
Crawford said he’s never talked to Duncan about what happened.
“I would talk to him tomorrow. … I have not reached out to him and he has not reached out to me,” he said. “What would I say to him? Great question! I would just say to him that it cost me more money than it cost you if we went by percentages of salary. No, you know what? I would just say to him, if we got down to it, the nitty gritty, we are sitting there having a couple of beers, I would say, ‘Hey, I made a mistake.’
“But you know what, in reality, I can’t go anywhere without somebody asking me about Tim Duncan. He is known for his great stellar career. I don’t know what I am known for. I guess it’s throwing out Tim Duncan. What are you going to do? It is part of my career. I don’t hold anything against him. It is just part of what happened.”
3:33 p.m.
You don’t allways have to be on the court to talk trash.
Memphis center Shaq Goodwin was sitting in the front row of the stands with two ice packs on his knees when Houston forward Montrezl Harrell told him how ugly he looked before making an inbounds pass.
Goodwin, in kind, told Harrell to “do something, bro,” and chided him over a recently missed layup.
The Rockets are playing the D-League Select team and lead 26-23 after the first quarter. Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni and Chicago guard Spencer Dinwiddie are among those in attendance.
2:52 p.m.
Jerry West, aka The Logo, is sitting courtside at the Hawks-Nets game at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Atlanta guard Dennis Schroder and his unique hairstyle are also on hand for the contest, which Brooklyn leads 58-50 at the end of the third quarter behind Chris McCullough’s 12 points. Hawks rookie guard Isaia Cordinier might go to the same barber as Schroder. The Frenchman is redefining the term “Mop Top.”
Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle and Minnesota Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau also are in the building. The Mavs will play the Toronto Raptors here at 3:30 p.m. and the Wolves will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers at 5:30 p.m.
2:08 p.m.
Emmanuel Mudiay is a pretty good sport.
The Denver guard is sitting courtside at the Cox Pavilion watching Milwaukee play Memphis, and spent all of halftime taking selfies and signing autographs for fans. He even waved someone off when they asked if he wanted to stop.
One fan had a huge picture of Mudiay at the ready, attatched to a white piece of cardboard with duct tape.
1:27 p.m.
Milwaukee is leading Memphis 18-14 after the first quarter.
Bucks forward Khris Middleton is in the stands, watching teammate and former UNLV guard Rashad Vaughn put up five points in the opening 10 minutes. Vaughn is struggling with his shooting stroke though, and is only 2-7 from the field.
Milwaukee general manager John Hammond is also on had to watch his top draft pick this year, Thon Maker. Maker had five points to go with a smothering block in the first quarter.
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