NBA Summer League

NBA Summer League Studs & Duds Day 4

Rodney_Hood

From an overtime thriller to another New York Knicks win, Day 4 of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas featured highs and lows throughout the afternoon and evening. Here are Basketball Insiders studs and duds of the day:

Studs

Rodney Hood: Hood stole the show against the Milwaukee Bucks. The 23rd pick in this year’s draft dropped 29 points, including seven treys. It was a bounce back offensive performance from his previous game (3-13 FG, 1-10 3PG, 9 points). In a matchup which featured Jabari Parker and Dante Exum, it was Hood who headlined the final outcome.

Amath M’Baye: The 6-8 small forward led all scorers with 27 points in the Los Angeles Clippers 91-85 win over the Miami HEAT. He shot 9-for-15 from the field, extended his game with a pair of treys (2-4 3PG) and got to the line where he went 7-for-8. M’Baye previously scored 14 points in his first game, nearly doubling his performance in game two.

Langston Galloway: The New York Knicks improved to 3-0 with a blowout win over the Charlotte Hornets. Galloway helped lead the charge early on, scoring all 17 of his points in the first half. The undrafted guard from St. Joseph’s shot 7-for-8 from the field in his first 11 minutes of play. While Jeremy Tyler finished as the game’s leading scorer (19 points), Galloway’s efficiency and shot selection in such a short spurt was impressive.

Jordan Clarkson: Just when sudden death seemed impending in the Los Angeles Lakers – Golden State Warriors game, Jordan Clarkson iced the win for the Lakers with a tip shot as time expired. He scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the night. The back-and-forth battle ended in the Lakers advantage, 89-88.

Duds

Trey Burke: Summer League has never been a show-us-your-best-stuff place for Trey Burke. As a rookie, he shot 24.1 percent from the field. Now entering his second year, he went 0-for-6 (2-2 FT) for two points in the Jazz win over the Bucks. While Summer League the final verdict in how a player will perform in the upcoming season, Burke has room for offensive improvements as he prepares for his sophomore campaign.

The Charlotte Hornets: The Hornets fell to 0-3 and continued their Summer League struggles against the Knicks. They scored only 31 points in the first half and a mere 13 in the third quarter. Their 16 turnovers far exceeded their 10 assists. Whether they can earn a W the rest of their time in Las Vegas remains to be seen.

Shabazz Napier: Napier kicked off the Orlando Summer League with offensive struggles, and did the same in his first game in Las Vegas. The first round pick shot 2-for-8 FG for a total of eight points. He’s not expected to shoot lights out, but his performance was combined with six personal fouls and only one assist. There is a rookie learning curve, and Napier is experiencing it early on.

James Ennis: Ennis already proved he is capable of making in impact during Summer League. But after dropping 29 points and averaging nearly 18 per game in Orlando, he shot 0-for-3 in the Heat’s loss to the Clippers in Vegas. All six of his points came at the free throw line. Another day, another game, and Ennis will look to prove is performances in Orlando were a representation of what he can do on the court.

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Jeff Hawkins
Sports Editor

Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.

All posts by Jeff Hawkins
Author photo
Jeff Hawkins Sports Editor

Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.

All posts by Jeff Hawkins