2014 Summer League

clenadams

– League Establishes New Records for Attendance, Viewership,
Digital Consumption and Merchandise Sales –

NEW YORK, July 23, 2014 –Samsung NBA Summer League shattered all-time records for attendance, NBA TV viewership, digital consumption on NBA.com and NBA Mobile, and overall merchandise sales.

This year’s 11-day event, featuring 24 teams, concluded on Monday, July 21, with the Sacramento Kings winning the Samsung NBA Summer League Championship.  All 67 games were played at the COX Pavilion and Thomas &amp; Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas.  A record 513 media were credentialed throughout the event.

All-time Samsung NBA Summer League marks included:

nba-news-samsung-nba-summer-league-slam-dunks-record-books

NBA NEWS: Samsung NBA Summer League Slam Dunks Record Books

clejgabriele

Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at our readers. But after 12 days of practices and shootarounds with new head coach David Blatt, you realize the importance of staying on your toes. The guys heard that request on the practice floor more than once in Vegas, and might’ve been hearing him in their sleep last week. That’s a good thing.

The Cavaliers wrapped up their strong Summer League experience with a win over Miami on Friday night, finishing up with a 4-1 mark. Several members of the Wine and Gold’s squad, plus their new head coach, had a rock-solid week in Sin City. And not all of it is simply measured by their record.

Almost all of us with the Cavalier caravan to Vegas returned on Saturday evening and took Sunday to decompress. And on Monday night, the 14th-seeded Rockets take on the 8th-seeded Kings (coached by Chris Jent) in Monday night’s Championship game, here are some random notes from our dozen days in Glitter Gulch.

notes-from-nevada

Notes from Nevada

Cavs.com

In the Wine and Gold’s Friday night finale at this year’s Summer League in Vegas, their back-to-back top picks – Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins – took the night off and allowed some of the subs to shine. They did exactly that, and Cleveland featured five players in double-figures to close out the week in style – topping Miami, 95-90, to head home with a 4-1 mark.

The Cavaliers had planned since the start of Summer League to play Bennett and Wiggins just four games unless there was a chance to win the tournament. The Canadian duo warmed up, but went on to watch the victory from Cleveland’s bench.

“Both of those guys played a lot of minutes in the first four games and we didn’t want risk injury or overdo it with them,” said head coach David Blatt. “Both guys had very, very good performances here and obviously we’re looking forward to working with them going down the line.”

The Cavs were paced by guard Steven Gray, who followed up a solid performance against Houston the previous evening with a 17-point effort on Friday night. The former Gonzaga standout came off the bench to go 6-of-11 overall and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc – adding five assists, three boards and a steal.

Dwight Powell, the 45th overall pick in this June’s Draft who was acquired by the Cavs less than a week ago, followed up with 15 points and a game-high nine boards – going 4-for-7 from the floor and 7-of-7 from the stripe. The rookie big man from Stanford added two helpers and a blocked shot.

”I thought Dwight was outstanding today,” praised Coach Blatt. “He got more minutes and he played with more confidence he was able to show some of the things that he could do. Obviously, he really, really showed himself well. We didn’t bring him to the Cavs for no reason and we’re excited about his future.”

Cleveland never trailed on Friday night and improved its lead to as many as 13 in the second quarter, but Miami got to within a deuce, 92-90, with 24 seconds to play. But Gray split a pair of free throws and Will Cherry canned both of his to ice the win.

Shane Edwards, one of Canton’s most consistent performers last year, was good again for the Cavs on Friday.

In his last three games of Summer League, the crafty forward doubled-up against Philly with 14 points and 11 boards, went 4-for-4 from the floor on Thursday night against Houston and closed out the trifecta with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in Friday’s win over Miami – adding three boards, an assist and a blocked shot.

Alex Kirk, a rookie center from New Mexico was almost as good – notching 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting to go with three boards, an assist and a steal.

Cleveland’s second-round pick from this past June’s Draft, Joe Harris, rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures, scoring all 11 of his points in the first period. The four-year guard from Virginia pitched in with four assists, a pair of rebounds and a steal.

Will Cherry, who got his second straight start in place of Matthew Dellavedova and has been spectacular at times for the Cavs Summer League squad, netted nine points and led both teams with six assists.

Both teams shot the ball well on Friday. Cleveland shot 53 percent from the floor; Miami, 50 percent. The Cavaliers outrebounded the Heat, 32-24, and handed out four more assists than Miami.

The Wine and Gold wrap up an eventful week in Sin City – closing out Summer League exactly one week after learning that the greatest player in the world will come to Camp as a Cavalier. Anthony Bennett looked like a different man after enduring a difficult rookie season and this year’s top pick, Andrew Wiggins, played well on both ends in all four contests.

And the Cavs new head coach got some valuable experience that he’ll be bringing to Training Camp in just about two months.

”I thought we had a great week – we were 4-1 and I thought we played some good basketball,” concluded Coach Blatt. “For me (this experience) was no less important than for the players, and I’m glad that I did it. I learned a lot and I benefitted a great deal from this time.”

cavs-cool-heat-to-close-summer-session

Cavs Cool Heat to Close Summer Session

cavs-vs-heat-july-19-2014

Cavs vs. Heat - July 19, 2014

Cavs.com here reporting live from Las Vegas as the Wine and Gold participate in the 2014 Samsung NBA Summer League.

After their first loss in Summer League action on Thursday, the Cavaliers will conclude tournament play tonight as they take on the Miami Heat at 10:30PM ET.

Be sure to follow cavs.com, Joe G and Fred for live, exclusive updates from the Wine and Gold's Summer League finale.

(function(d, s, id) {var js,ijs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(d.getElementById(id))return;js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//embed.scribblelive.com/widgets/embed.js";ijs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, ijs);}(document, 'script', 'scrbbl-js'));

day-11-summer-league-tracker

Day 11: Summer League Tracker

clejcaione

The Wine and Gold finally dropped their first game in Summer League play, falling – 96-90 – to Houston on Thursday night in Vegas. But they gave the Rockets all they could handle – and the crowd at the Thomas &amp; Mack Center more than their money’s worth.

The first half of Thursday’s tournament opener featured ten ties and 13 lead-changes, but behind a red-hot Isaiah Canaan, Houston opened up a 13-point edge in the third quarter. Still, the Cavaliers kept coming and cut it to a one-possession game with 1:08 to play.

Houston pushed its lead back up to eight – 95-87 – with 8.3 remaining, but rookie Joe Harris canned a long three to make it interesting. The Cavs were forced to foul on the next possession and Houston’s Robert Covington split the free throws to put the affair just out of reach – and put Cleveland one game away from heading home.

Thursday’s highly-entertaining contest featured some stellar individual performances by both Andrew Wiggins and Will Cherry.

As the top pick in this June's Draft, Wiggins has been as advertised – and 19-year-old swingman was rock-solid again on Thursday night. Cherry, who went undrafted one year ago, continued to be the Cavaliers’ Summer League surprise.

Wiggins was just 3-of-5 from the floor, but his aggressive play sent him to the line 20 times, where he drained 15 free throws. The former Jayhawk added five boards and a blocked shot in a team-high 31 minutes.

“I thought Andrew did a real nice job,” praised Coach David Blatt. “You know what you have to like about a kid like that – it doesn’t matter if it’s the fourth game of Summer League or his fourth game in seven days or if people are keying on him or if the crowd has funny things to say to him. He just goes out there and plays and has a nice calm about him and real good demeanor. Andrew's gonna be a high-level player.”

Cherry, who scored 14 points in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win over San Antonio, went off after intermission again on Thursday – netting 18 of his 21 points in the second stanza. The compact point guard from Montana, who came to Vegas as a roster invitee and got the start with Matthew Dellavedova departing to join his Australian national team, went 8-for-14 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the stripe to go with four boards and three assists.

Two other Cavaliers notched double-figures against Houston. Anthony Bennett struggled from the floor, going 4-of-11 for 11 points, but led all starters with six boards and a steal.

Joe Harris was an economical 3-of-6 from the field and canned both three-point attempts, adding a board, a steal and an assist in 23 minutes of action.

The Cavs also got a couple solid efforts off the bench on Thursday. Shane Edwards followed up his double-double against Philly with a 4-for-4 performance against the Rockets, netting eight points, two boards, two steals and an assist in just 15 minutes of play. Second year guard Carrick Felix finished with seven points, seven boards and a block – drilling a pair of three-pointers.

The Rockets were paced by Canaan, who led both teams with 28 points – going 10-of-16 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from long-distance. On Canaan’s final three-pointer, he looked over playfully to Kyrie Irving, who was seated next to Dan Gilbert near mid-court. The two exchanged good-natured barbs as Canaan crossed the time-line. Houston forward Donatas Motiejunas doubled-up with 21 points and 11 boards.

Cleveland shot 46 percent from the floor and outscored Houston on the break. But the Rockets bested the Wine and Gold in the paint, outscoring them, 40-28.

The Cavaliers wrap up a successful Summer League stint and try to head home with a win as they take on Miami to close out tournament play on Friday night at 7 p.m. PT.

comeback-falls-short-cavs-finally-fall-in-vegas

Comeback Falls Short, Cavs Finally Fall in Vegas

cavs-vs-rockets-july-17-2014

Cavs vs. Rockets - July 17, 2014

After having a spirited practice on Wednesday, the Cavaliers will begin tournament play on Thursday as they square off against the Houston Rockets at 8PM ET.

Be sure to follow cavs.com, Joe G and Fred for live, exclusive updates from the Wine and Gold's first tournament game.

day-10-summer-league-tracker

Day 10: Summer League Tracker

Presented by:

fubo

SINGLE GAME TICKETS FOR GAME 7 ARE SALE NOW. <strong><a href="https://seatgeek.com/cleveland-cavaliers-tickets/5-5-2024-cleveland-ohio-rocket-mortgage-fieldhouse/nba/6439007?market=open&amp;aid=15870&amp;pid=web&amp;rid=50324&amp;utm_medium=partnership&amp;utm_source=cavs_ticketing&amp;utm_campaign=web&amp;utm_content=playofftickets">GET TICKETS &gt;&gt;&gt;</a></strong>