Here is what you need to know before the Lakers continue their run at the Las Vegas Summer League with a matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers.
1)
Individual Summer League matchups don’t get much bigger than Ben Simmons vs. Brandon Ingram — the top two picks in this year’s NBA Draft. In his debut on Friday, Ingram flashed his talent on both ends of the floor, scoring 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting while using his 7-foot-3 wingspan to patrol the perimeter and provide help defense down low (including two big swats).
Meanwhile, Simmons is coming off an up-and-down showing at the Utah Summer League, where he played in two of Philadelphia’s three games. He went just 4-of-17 from the field, reflecting some of questions about his shooting capabilities, but also dazzled with his court vision, passing and ball handling. This latter skill set has netted him 11 assists so far, though more could have been added if teammates could regularly handle some of his highlight-reel passes.
2)
While Ingram looked solid in Los Angeles’ 85-65 thumping of New Orleans on Friday, his fellow second-overall pick commanded the spotlight, as D’Angelo Russell piled up 20 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals. The 6-foot-5 point guard especially found success using his post-up game that he has spent the summer honing both on the court and in the weight room.
Russell — who was high school teammates with Simmons at Montverde Academy in Florida — won’t be facing the man picked one spot after him in the 2015 Draft, Jahlil Okafor, who is rehabbing from right knee surgery that cost him the final 23 games of his rookie year. However, the Sixers will have point guard T.J. McConnell, who — after going undrafted in 2015 — surprisingly finished second among rookies in both assists (4.5) and steals (1.17).
3)
Russell and Ingram took care of the offense along with Larry Nance Jr. and Ivica Zubac, who contributed 11 points apiece on Friday. Meanwhile, Anthony Brown spearheaded the defense by locking down college basketall’s most dangerous weapon, Wooden Award winner Buddy Hield, who shot just 5-of-20 from the field and 1-of-8 on 3-pointers.
Strong perimeter play from Brown and co. allowed the Lakers’ frontcourt to swoop in for swats, as Zubac, Nance and Ingram combined for seven, while the Pelicans shot just 32.9 percent. Wing defense will be especially important against the Sixers, with Ingram and Brown each figuring to have matchups against Simmons.
4)
Just two months ago, Zubac and Philadelphia’s Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot were members of the same starting five in Serbia. Now the former Mega Leks teammates will square off in Vegas, as Zubac — the No. 33 pick of this year’s Draft — takes on the 24th selection.
Zubac (or, as he is known in Croatia: Zublocka) was able to bully New Orleans’ bigs in the paint, shooting 3-of-4 while drawing enough contact for five free throw attempts — all of which he made. Meanwhile, Luwawu-Cabarrot averaged 11.0 points at the Utah Summer League and 14.6 for Mega Leks last season.
5)
The 76ers are bringing a pair of their returning players to Las Vegas who weren’t present for their exhibitions in Utah, as Jerami Grant and Nik Stauskas will be joining the team.
Grant averaged 9.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks as a sophomore last year, while ranking eighth in the entire NBA in block percentage (4.7). Meanwhile, Stauskas — selected eighth overall two seasons ago — has yet to find the stroke that made him the 2014 Big Ten Player of the Year. Stauskas averaged 17.5 points at Michigan and shot a conference-best 44.2 percent from 3-point range, but in the NBA has averaged just 6.4 points and hit 32.5 percent from deep.
Rule Changes
Summer League is played under different rules than the regular season. These include:
- Quarters are 10 minutes long instead of 12.
- Halftime is eight minutes long.
- Teams are in the penalty on the 10th team foul or second in the final two minutes.
- Players foul out after their 10th personal foul in non-tournament games. The standard six-foul rule is applied during the tournament portion of Summer League.
- Each team receives two, 105-second timeouts per half, which do not carry over.
- Each team can advance the ball to the frontcourt once in the last two minutes of regulation and any overtime period.
- Overtime is two minutes long instead of five. Double overtime is sudden death during non-tournament games and two minutes during the tournament.