The Portland Trail Blazers played their third NBA Summer League game Tuesday in Las Vegas, Nevada. They’re undefeated after beating the Spurs.
The Portland Trail Blazers beat the San Antonio Spurs 95-89 to go 3-0 in Vegas Summer League play. Rookie Gary Trent Jr. led all scorers with 20 points and made 4/8 from three.
The Blazers’ Summer League squad, stocked with several players likely to earn significant playing time during the regular season, beat their opponents by an average of more than 12 points.
The only thing that kept Tuesday’s tilt from being a blow-out was a barrage of late three-pointers from the Spurs.
Spurs-Blazers
The first thing we noticed about NBA Summer League Game No. 3 for the Portland Trail Blazers was that young rookie Anfernee Simons got the start. He played 25 minutes and was impressive early, but finished with just eight points on 4/13 shooting.
Simons showing his athleticism with this powerful slam off the pass from Baldwin pic.twitter.com/X2jLSW4xEN
— Nate Mann (@nate_mann13) July 10, 2018
In the three games, both rookies (Trent and Simons) showed promise, but in Game 3, Trent was more impressive overall.
The second thing we noticed was that Zach Collins wasn’t playing at all; he has a right ankle sprain.
The third thing we noticed was that Wade Baldwin continues to be the best player on the court for Portland in Summer League, although Jake Layman (15 points, eight rebounds) is in the conversation for that particular accolade.
Baldwin finished with 16 points on 6/12 shooting, nine assists and five steals.
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1016776065686138882
The fourth thing we noticed was that Caleb “Biggie” Swanigan is really, really big. His stat line was filled with both good and bad numbers.
Swanigan with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Just 2/10 from the field, though, and he also had 5 turnovers and 5 fouls.#RipCity #NBASummerLeague
— Rip City Project (@ripcityproject) July 10, 2018
The fifth thing we noticed was that Lonnie Walker IV is going to be an irritant for Trail Blazers fans for a long time. That dude can play.
Simons loses track of Lonnie Walker while the ball is being shot. Walker sneaks in behind and throws down a STRONG putback dunk pic.twitter.com/a06UzFs6Ln
— Nate Mann (@nate_mann13) July 10, 2018
At the half:
One half down. One half to go. pic.twitter.com/FJs9W6PKr4
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) July 10, 2018
John Jenkins also played well for Portland. He played 22 minutes and scored 13 points on 5/6 shooting. The Blazers had five players score in double figures.
https://twitter.com/trailblazers/status/1016793960608509952
Your final: Blazers 95, Spurs 89.
Updated Summer League standings here!
Next: 5 juicy quotes from Damian Lillard’s Sunday chat
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