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Summer League Recap: Grizzlies 79, Hornets 75

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By John Denton
July 5, 2015

ORLANDO -- A day before Serena Williams faces off against sister Venus Williams in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon, it was Harrison versus Harrison in a brotherly battle on Sunday in the Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League.

Aaron Harrison, who went undrafted in the June 25 NBA Draft, got the better of the head-to-head matchup against his twin brother, but Andrew Harrison’s Memphis Grizzlies won the game, defeating Charlotte 79-75.

Aaron and Andrew, both rookies out of the University of Kentucky, had instances throughout both halves when they were matched up against one another. Andrew guarded Aaron at times, but Aaron mainly checked Memphis point guard Russ Smith throughout the game. Aaron, who has been asked to learn how to play the point guard position by Charlotte’s coaches, had 16 points, eight assists and four rebounds. Andrew scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds for the Grizzlies.

``No, we don’t look at each other as competition,’’ Andrew said of the one-on-one battle on Sunday. ``We push each other and things like that. But we just both want each other to play well. We played alright today. But I won so …’’
Andrew added that other than in the NBA Draft combine back in May, Sunday was the first time that the two brothers had played against one another in a game of any significance.’’

Jarnell Stokes had 10 points for Memphis (2-0), including a tough left-handed layup in traffic with 16 seconds remaining to seal the victory. Russ Smith added 14 points, seven assists and three steals for the Grizzlies.

Charlotte’s Frank Kaminsky made six of eight shots and two of three 3-pointers and had 14 points and eight rebounds. Through two summer league games, the reigning National College Player of the Year is averaging 16.5 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 48.1 percent from the floor and 54.4 percent from 3-point range.

Memphis had a seemingly safe 64-47 lead going into the fourth quarter, but guards Troy Daniels and Aaron Harrison led the Hornets back into the game. Daniels, once a playoff hero for the Houston Rockets, made six of his first seven 3-point shots to help Charlotte climb within one point of the lead three different times in the fourth quarter.

Daniels finished with a game-high 21 points by making seven of 12 shots and six of nine 3-point shots. His shooting helped Charlotte outscore Memphis 28-15 in the fourth period.

Aaron Harrison, who played primarily shooting guard in college, is making the adjustment to point guard because of the Hornets’ needs at that position. Hornets summer league coach Patrick Ewing was upset with Aaron’s shot selection in Saturday’s opener, but Aaron was much more in tune with setting up others on Sunday. He had eight assists on Sunday compared to just two assists on Saturday.

Charlotte forward P.J. Hairston missed his first eight shots and finished just four of 14 for 10 points. Hairston missed badly on a long 3-point heave with 30 seconds to go that could have tied the game.