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The 2021 NBA Summer League continues in Las Vegas Tuesday with six games over the day. The big game will take between the Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets, where No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham and No. 2 pick Jalen Green will battle.
Jalen Suggs, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody made strong impressions in the evening slate when the Orlando Magic edged the Golden State Warriors in overtime. Immanuel Quickley shined for the New York Knicks early and the New Orleans Pelicans will be happy about their first-round pick Trey Murphy after his performance.
Here we’ll be recapping all the games for Tuesday, August 10th.
NBA Summer League recaps
Hawks 84, Pacers 83
This was a big game for the rookies. Chris Duarte was phenomenal again for Indiana, scoring 21 points and going 5-10 from three-point range. Duarte was projected to go late in the first round, but the Pacers look like they made a solid pick at No. 13.
The Hawks are feeling good about their choices of Jalen Johnson and Sharife Cooper. The former put up 18 points and 10 rebounds, while the latter hit the game-winning three-point shot. Cooper went 5-8 from deep en route to 21 points and nine assists. He committed six turnovers and five personal fouls, but the shooting is a good sign of things to come.
Celtics 107, Nuggets 82
Aaron Nesmith was the star in this one, scoring 33 points on 13-18 shooting. The guard hit seven threes on nine attempts as part of Boston’s barrage from deep. The Celtics as a team hit 15 threes on 32 attempts. Payton Pritchard added 21 points and 12 assists. Both players will be part of Boston’s bench this season.
On the flip side, the Nuggets had a horrendous day shooting the ball. The team managed to convert just seven threes on 26 attempts and also missed 11 free throws. Bol Bol had 26 points to lead Denver.
Bulls 92, Spurs 89
Patrick Williams went off for 30 points and hit four three-pointers in seven attempts, sending Bulls fans into a frenzy. The second-year forward has made a jump, even though this is just Summer League play. The Bulls are expected to compete for the playoff spot this season and Williams is a big part of that goal. This is a good development for Chicago.
The Spurs did not play rookie Josh Primo after a rough game Monday. It was Tre Jones with 23 points and Jaylen Morris with 21 points who led San Antonio in this game. The Spurs blew a 22-point lead in this game, something Gregg Popovich will not be happy about. He’s counting on some of these players to be solid rotation pieces this upcoming season.
Rockets 111, Pistons 91
The matchup between Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green did not disappoint. The No. 1 pick put up 20 points, while his counterpart dropped 25. The Rockets simply had more on the offensive end with all five starters in double figures. Alperen Sengun had 21 points for Houston. If these players keep performing like this, the Rockets will be ahead of schedule with their rebuild.
Luka Garza, one of the surprise slides in the draft, looked good with 15 points on 5-6 shooting. The Pistons have a young core and there will be some growing pains, but Garza is factoring into that group with his Summer League performances.