Warriors edge Hornets in Friday’s finale
Brandan Wright made two free throws with 38.1 seconds remaining to lift Golden State to a 77-76 win over New Orleans in the final game of the opening day of the NBA Vegas Summer League at Cox Pavilion on Friday night.
Wright, a former North Carolina star, finished with 18 points and six rebounds. His decisive shots from the line came after Marcus Thornton put the Hornets ahead with a shot-clock beating jumper from the right wing.
Thornton, a former star at LSU, finished with a game-high 23 points. Quincy Pondexter added 14 for New Orleans, and Kyle Hines added nine points and 12 rebounds.
Reggie Williams led Golden State with 22 points in the victory.
The action has concluded for tonight. Another four games are scheduled for tomorrow, with the opening tip at 1 p.m.
If you can score, you can score
Reggie Williams went undrafted out of VMI a few years back despite leading the nation in scoring in each of his final two collegiate seasons.
There were questions about his size, as well as his ability to showcase his skills against better competition. Of course, his defense is also a question mark.
Nevertheless, Williams showed that he knows how to put the ball in the basket at any level when he finally made his way onto the Golden State roster at the end of last season.
He is looking to prove he belongs this week in the summer league and he played well in the opening game.
Williams had 22 points in the opening game for the Warriors on Friday night.
Little brother blues
Former Bishop Gorman standout Kashif Watson has dreams of joining his brother C.J. on the Golden State roster this season.
His summer league debut didn’t exactly set him off in the right direction toward that goal.
Watson got the most dreaded line possible on the box score: Did not play-Coach’s decision.
Bad sign for NBA media
Just about every member of the national media that covers the NBA is here for the first day of the summer league.
They can’t be a happy bunch.
One aspect of “LeBron-a-palooza” that wasn’t talked about very much was the fact the superstar free agent bypassed the media and delivered news of his “Decision” on his own terms.
It could very possibly indicate the direction the sports media is headed.
While it won’t happen in quite such grandiose style, social media platforms enable players to control the message themselves and circumvent the traditional methods of dispatching information.
Dwyane Wade posted a video on YouTube announcing his decision to sign with Miami. Kevin Durant posted his decision to sign an extension with Oklahoma City on Twitter.
Why leak stories to Ric Bucher or David Aldridge to spin in their own way when you can simply tell fans directly whichever version of the story you would like to get out there.
Reporters all over the country were left guessing where LeBron James would sign, which has to make them very nervous.
What better way for them to step back and take a breather than to head to Vegas for 10 days?