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We had a pretty eventful Day 1 of the Utah Summer League yesterday. The Philadelphia 76ers and the San Antonio Spurs had a heck of a game, where the go-ahead bucket was a transition alley-oop layup with only seconds left. The Spurs won 74-71. In that game possible rookie of the year Jahlil Okafor finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Jordan McRae added 15 points in a losing effort. The San Antonio Spurs had amazing all-around play between Casper Ware, Cady Lalanne, Dairis Bertans, Kyle Anderson, and Livio Jean-Charles. In the season game we saw the Utah Jazz blow out the Boston Celtics in a game that was at times much closer than the final score showed. While the Jazz won 100-82, it was a physical game where both teams were working hard and were being led by their lotto pick guards. Boston's soph Marcus Smart finished with 26 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals; but he shot 6/20 from the field, and 2/10 from the three point line. Overall he finished a -11 in +/-, which may not be his fault. Dante Exum, in the same situation for the Jazz finished +31, and a big part of that was his 20 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and impressive 5/11 shooting. Both guys were amazing. And today we expect to see more amazing, right here at home in Utah!
Tuesday, July 7th:
- 5:00 PM MT: Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers
- 7:00 PM MT: San Antonio Spurs vs. Utah Jazz
In Game 1 we're going to see Smart look for some help against the 76ers. Boston didn't have any inside presence, and they'll be going up against the most talented bigman in the UTSL. In Game 2 Dante Exum is going to sit this one out as he's recently injured. I don't think it's a make or break day for fellow injured player Grant Jerrett either, as he's most likely not playing. The Jazz *could* have some help today with Trey Lyles -- but we don't know if he's ready to get on the floor. He just passed his physical today. The Spurs are going to be tough because they play the game the right way. For the Jazz to compete they're going to need Rodney Hood to do his Glen Rice thing again and/or get some solid play from point guards Bryce Cotton, Trey Lyles, Jared Cunningham +/- Raul Neto.
It'll be a fun game. I can't wait!