Wall propels Wizards to another win

It has been a great week for top five picks from Kentucky.

John Wall followed in the footsteps of DeMarcus Cousins and recorded yet another double-double. Wall had 21 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds as the Wizards held off a late Dallas run for an 88-82 victory in Thursday’s third game at Cox Pavilion in the NBA Vegas Summer League.

Wall had a miserable shooting game, making just 4 of 19 attempts from the floor, but got to the free-throw line at will and went 13-for-15 from the stripe.

Cartier Martin led the Wizards with 23 points and JaVale McGee added 18. Former South Florida star Dominique Jones scored a game-high 28 points for the Mavericks. Over at the Thomas & Mack Center, Richard Hendrix had 14 points to lead five Hawks in double-figures as Atlanta crushed Milwaukee, 83-60.

Jeff Teague had 13 points and Jordan Crawford added 12, while Alade Aminu and Luke Jackson chipped in with 10 points each.

Deron Washington led all scorers with 15 for the Bucks. Larry Sanders had eight points, 13 rebounds and four steals.

Where are the Rebels?

It’s amazing how many more UNR players are competing in the summer league than UNLV.

It really hit me watching JaVale McGee play for Washington.

Even though Lon Kruger clearly has the UNLV program out in front of that other team in the state, only one former Rebel is playing in the summer league and he was from well before the Kruger era. Romel Beck is on the end of the Denver bench.

McGee is one of four recent UNR players on a summer league roster. He is more than a summer leaguer, too. McGee was on the Wizards last year and is projected to be the team’s starting center next season. Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson both have a good chance of making the Portland Trail Blazers and Mo Charlo is playing for Minnesota.

In the end, wins are what matters and several current UNLV players have pro potential, but you still hate to see more UNR players competing here this week.

Stealing the show

Just about everyone in the arena came here to watch a superstar rookie point guard. Most of them left as fans of an obscure rookie point guard.

While John Wall played well and gave many of the fans what they wanted to see, it was Dallas point guard Jeremy Lin that created the biggest buzz on Thursday night.

The rookie from Harvard dazzled the crowd with his ball-handling and ability to get to the basket against Wall.

Lin has been very steady all week and is certain to get a look from somebody after his performance. He finished with 13 points, four assists and two rebounds on Thursday, but it was several slick moves and acrobatic finishes that had the crowd oohing and aahing each time he touched the ball. Yeah, Wall had 28 and 10. So what?

Lin survived the rigors of the 14-game tournament each year in the Ivy League. He’s battle-tested.

Clipper Darrell

If you don’t know who Clipper Darrell is, look him up. He is a Clippers fan that eats, sleeps and breathes for that other Los Angeles team. His heckling of opponents and cheering for the Clippers has made him famous around the NBA. Even Mark Cuban flew him to Dallas and tried to hire him to be Maverick Darrell, but the man has some loyalty.

Anyway, he was in midseason form when the Clippers took on John Wall and the Wizards the other day. He was terrorizing the No. 1 pick from up in the stands and even got Wall to bust out laughing at one point during a free-throw attempt.

Apparently, he changed his stripes. Clipper Darrell came early and cheered for Wall and the Wizards throughout their game with Dallas. He drew uproarious laughter from the crowed on several occasions and had one classic exchange late in the game.

Wall was sitting on the bench when Darrell started screaming, “We want Wall. We want Wall.” Washington coach Sam Cassell immediately turned to the bench and sent Wall into the game. Without hesitation, Darrell yelled, “Thank you Sammy.”

Cassell is a former Clipper and is one of Darrell’s favorites. It was a very funny moment.

Nice start

Washington jumped out to one of the best starts we have seen this week. In the blink of an eye, the Wizards led 15-0. Wall hit a pair of free throws to start the run, but the majority of the damage was done by Lester Hudson, JaVale McGee and Cartier Martin.

Hudson hit a pair of 3-pointers during the rally, and McGee knocked down two jumpers. Dallas steadily worked back into the game, but never drew even with the Wizards.