Spurs’ Vegas Summer League debut stalls with loss to Pacers, 86-76

Derrick White and Lonnie Walker IV topped the Summer League Spurs in scoring.

The Summer League Spurs hit Vegas for their first game of the NBA Las Vegas tournament and faced off against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, July 7.

Spurs Starters:

Chimezie Metu, Jaron Blossomgame, Derrick White, Olivier Hanlon, and Lonnie Walker IV.

Metu and Blossomgame started the game with some good energy. Walker looked fluid but went 6 of 18 for 15 points. Trey McKinney-Jones showed some good moves toward the basket, but White was the best player on the floor as the Spurs led 22-17 after the 1st quarter.

The Pacers’ TJ Leaf used his bulk to bully the slimmer Spurs on the block. Amida Brimah looks big, but doesn’t seem to have an NBA skillset. Cory Jefferson shot 100% (3 of 3), but he didn’t have the size to keep the Pacers from scoring easily. Nevertheless, the Spurs led 45-42 at the half.

The Spurs went cold (and considering how hot Vegas is, that’s surprising) in the third as the Pacers dominated inside and drained their outside shots on the open looks they got from the Spurs scrambled defense. The Pacers led 64-53 after the 3rd quarter.

The Spurs showed a little more life in the final quarter as LWIV abandoned the outside shot and made some pretty moves in the paint. But the Pacers’ offensive juggernaut could not be stopped, and the Spurs lost 86-76 with most of the final quarter devoted to extended garbage time. (But there’s no garbage time in a summer league game because it’s all garbage time.)

Game Notes:

• It’s SL for the refs too and you can see them training and communicating. They have been pretty good in all of the games I’ve watched.
• The kids are all right. On most Summer League teams there are probably two guys that could play in the NBA. The Spurs look like they might have three.

Up next for the Summer Spurs are the Washington Wizards at 2:30 pm CST on Sunday, July 8.

Source: Pounding The Rock