By Josh Cohen
July 8, 2016
ORLANDO – Marquis Teague spent most of the last two seasons in the D-League with the Oklahoma City Blue. He’s hoping his solid week at the 2016 Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League will propel him back to the NBA.
Teague drilled a pair of clutch shots down the stretch as the Dallas Mavericks overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat the Charlotte Hornets, 97-92, on Friday. He finished with 11 points, three assists and three rebounds.
“I just wanted to stay aggressive,” Teague said. “They gave me open shots. Just trying to make plays to help us win.”
Teague averaged 15.7 points and 5.9 assists with the Thunder’s D-League affiliate last season. The younger brother of Indiana Pacers point guard Jeff Teague, Marquis played with the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets in his first two years in the NBA. He credits the D-League for helping him mature as a player and person.
“They gave me a chance to go out there and see what I can do,” he said. “In the D-League, you go out there and try things that you can’t try in the NBA just to see what you can do and where you are at. It helped me out with my confidence a lot.”
The Mavs also got big games from Casey Prather (23 points) and Vander Blue (17 points). Both played well enough throughout the week to potentially get some looks from teams around the NBA.
“The Mavs brought me here to lead,” Blue said. “I’m just going to play hard. Everybody knows I can score but right now I’m trying to show I can do the little things to help a team win.”
Ramon Galloway had a sensational game for the Hornets, who did most of their damage on the glass (out-rebounded Mavs 45-30) before relinquishing their big first half advantage. Galloway poured in 25 points off the bench on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. He also had five rebounds and four assists.
Dallas caught fire in the second half, particularly from 3-point range. The Mavs made 13-of-24 from beyond the arc throughout the game, including four treys from Prather and three from Darius Adams.
Dallas will start its Las Vegas Summer League slate on Saturday against the Miami Heat at 10 p.m. ET.