Marcus Banks’ record safe — barely
Marcus Banks nearly had his name erased from the NBA Summer League record book Tuesday, as Golden State’s Anthony Randolph equaled Banks’ record of 42 points in the Warriors’ 95-83 win over Chicago at Cox Pavilion.
Banks set the record in 2007 with 42 against Cleveland in the Thomas & Mack Center while a member of the Phoenix Suns.
Randolph had 33 points after three quarters, and he seemed to be a lock when he had 40 with 6:40 to go in the game.
But Randolph went to the bench and didn’t return until less than three minutes remained.
He got to the line and made a pair of free throws with just over two minutes to play. But he never saw the ball again as his teammates either didn’t know he was on the verge of history or they were a bunch of selfish louts and froze him out.
Still, he took it in stride.
“It would have been nice, but I’m not disappointed,” he said. “We won the game, and that’s what matters.”
Yeah, whatever. You’ve got a chance to make history, it matters. And, Randolph turns 20 Wednesday. That would have been a nice birthday present for him.
No run for Wink
So much for that triumphant homecoming for Wink Adams. The former UNLV star guard never saw the floor in the Knicks’ 90-86 loss to Memphis.
Knicks summer league coach Phil Weber said he couldn’t promise how many minutes Adams would get, and I guess zero qualifies as a number. Still, it’s a little surprising he didn’t work him in for three or four minutes, given Adams is a UNLV guy.
Augmon comes home
Another former Rebel, Stacey Augmon, is back with the Denver Nuggets summer league team as part of John Welch’s staff. Augmon is a player development coach during the regular season for George Karl, who was in the stands watching his son, Coby, play for the Nuggets.
Tim Grgurich, who has been with Karl during his run in Denver, watched the Nuggets-Spurs game from behind the basket with Doug Moe, another coaching legend who is part of Karl’s staff.
Blake Griffin, Round 2
The Clippers are about to tip off against New Orleans, and another good-sized croewd is filling up the Thomas & Mack to see if Blake Griffin’s 27-point, 12-rebound performance from Monday was a fluke, or if he’s the real deal.
The guess here is that was no fluke against the Lakers. Look for another good effort against the Hornets.