Pistons rally for victory
Detroit scored the final 14 points of the game to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 89-84 in the third game of the opening day of the NBA Vegas Summer League at Cox Pavilion.
A pair of players from the regular season roster, Austin Daye and Jonas Jerebko, keyed the rally.
Daye converted a 4-point play and then made another free throw, and Jerebko made two free throws to tie the game with 1:07 remaining and another to give the Pistons the lead seconds later.
Terrico White then juked Ibrahim Jaaber so badly the former Ivy League star fell to the floor and then calmly buried a jumper to give Detroit an 87-84 edge with just 14 seconds remaining.
Daye finished with a game-high 22 points for the Pistons. White and DaJuan Summers each had 17, while Jerebko finished with 16.
Devin Ebanks led the Lakers with 21 points, but Derrick Caracter was the standout performer.
The former Louisville and UTEP star had 20 points and 10 rebounds. He was also noticeably slimmer than he was in college and could be a very good player if he continues to work as hard as he did to get in shape.
The New Orleans Hornets will play the Golden State Warriors in the final game of the day.
Take a hike
Who says summer league games don’t matter?
Longtime Detroit Pistons trainer Mike Abdenour may have pulled off a Vegas Summer League first, but we’ll have to check the official record books.
The legendary figure in the Pistons franchise drew two technicals within about five seconds of each other and was ejected in the third quarter.
Abdenour drew big laughs from the section full of coaches and executives sitting just behind the Pistons bench as he walked towards the corner of the arena to watch the rest of the game.
He stuck around, lingering just off the court, just in case someone got hurt.
Abdenour insisted he would have come right back if his training services were needed.
What a shame
Jordan Eglseder never got in the game for the Pistons.
The former Northern Iowa star served as nothing more than a great big cheerleader on Friday evening.
The UNLV fans in attendance were able to yell some insults at one of the players responsible for knocking their beloved Rebels out of the NCAA Tournament during warmups, but they never got a chance to boo his entrance into the game.
The poor guy just had to sit there on the end of the bench.
Perhaps the coaches were concerned about his shoes. Eglseder wore the same big purple sneakers he wore at Northern Iowa.
Sightings
Stephen Curry, who emerged as an elite scorer in his rookie season with Golden State, is sitting in the front row for the Warriors upcoming game against New Orleans.
His coach, Don Nelson, is much higher up in the stands and wearing a hat.
Detroit Pistons president Joe Dumars was a very interested observer during the Pistons game.