China, Croatia fall in NBA summer league debuts
The Chinese and Croatian national teams both lost in their NBA Summer League debuts on Friday.
Both teams are competing with NBA teams in Las Vegas, marking the first time the league will feature two international teams. China previously played in the summer league in 2007.
The Miami Heat had no troubles with China, jumping out to a 34-point halftime lead and cruising to a 103-62 victory behind 23 points from Tyler Herro and 20 points from Nick Mayo. Miami held China to 26.7 percent shooting in the first half, and outrebounded the Chinese 25-15 before intermission.
Kendrick Nunn added 15 points and Duncan Robinson 14 for Miami (1-0).
Zhelin Wang had 12 points and 14 rebounds for China (0-1), which shot just 23 percent from 3-point range.
Detroit (1-0) got seven 3-pointers and 26 points from Khyri Thomas and pulled away from Croatia in the fourth quarter for a 96-80 win. Svi Mykhailiuk from Ukraine added 17 points and five assists, and Todd Withers had 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting for the Pistons.
Croatia (0-1) was outrebounded 37-26.
The 76ers (1-0) jumped out to 17-point lead at halftime and held on to beat the Bucks behind 19 points from Marial Shayok and 16 from Jalen Jones. Christ Koumadje had 11 points, seven rebounds and seven blocks in 14 minutes, an encouraging start for the 76ers’ 7-foot-4 rookie center from Florida State.
The Bucks (0-1) got 25 points and 10 rebounds from Jock Landale, and Bonzie Colson chipped in with 22 points. Division II player of the year Daulton Hommes led the Bucks’ fourth-quarter comeback, as the former Point Loma star scored 18 points of 6-of-8 shooting off the bench. But two late turnovers by the Bucks sealed their fate.
TIMBERWOLVES 85, CAVALIERS 75
Keita Bates-Diop scored 17 points and Kelan Murphy had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves (1-0). Josh Okogie added 14 points, making all 10 free throw attempts. Jarrett Culver, whose draft rights were acquired by Minnesota in a trade, isn’t allowed to join the team until after Saturday when the trade is made official.
Dylan Windler, one of three first-round 2019 draft picks for the Cavaliers (0-1) on the roster, was 6 of 13 from the floor and had 15 points and eight rebounds. Cleveland’s other two first-round picks, Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr., did not play while recovering from injuries.
Naz Mitrou-Long had 14 points for Cleveland (0-1).
