2015 Summer League

John Denton

Orlando Magic White, a team full of free-agent and Development League hopefuls, saw its dream of a perfect week and an unlikely championship come to an end in heartbreaking, sudden-death fashion on Friday.

When point guard Russ Smith flipped in an off-balanced, left-handed hook shot in the second overtime period it gave Memphis a 75-73 defeat of Magic White and the championship of the Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League.

Per league rules, games that go into a second overtime period are decided in sudden-death fashion. Smith, one of the standouts for the week for his fearless play, improvised on the game-winner and converted the shot over the outstretched arm of 6-foot-11 center Keith Benson. It was the second sudden-death game-winner of the week for Smith and Memphis (5-0), who beat Magic Blue in 2 OTs on Tuesday.

"This meant a lot to us because we got to (the summer league championship game) last year and lost," said Memphis guard Jordan Adams, who had 12 points and four rebounds. "We wanted to play Grizzlies basketball, defend and be physical and share the ball... Everybody is out here fighting for a job and an opportunity. Stuff on offense was taken away, but we looked for our playmakers and Russ stepped up big for us."

The ending was especially frustrating for Magic White (4-1), which had become the story of the week in Orlando for routing its first four foes by a combined 40 points. Chris Singleton (16 points and four steals) and Benson (16 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks) were the only members of Magic White with previous NBA experience, so the hungry group was hopeful of showing that it could play at the highest level and win the Summer League crown.

"It just (stinks) because we worked so hard and had a pretty good lead going into the fourth quarter and then both sides just got sloppy turning the ball over," said Singleton, who averaged 8.0 points and 5.6 rebounds in five games. "We were thrown together as a team and counted out, but we're just like all of these other guys trying to make a team. We put it all on the line and just fell short today."

Magic White led by as much as 10 points in the second half and had a 73-69 lead with 80 seconds left in regulation. Orlando appeared to have put itself in position to win the game with 9.9 seconds left in the first overtime when point guard Keith Appling converted a lefty layup. However, referees called the guard for a charge and upheld the call after a replay to see if Memphis forward Jarnell Stokes cleared the restricted area in the lane.

Magic White's resilience was on display all day as it fell behind 7-0 at the start and it trailed 24-8 just minutes into the second quarter. But the Magic clamped down defensively and took a 32-31 lead with 2 minutes left in the first half. Magic White had a series of bad breaks go against them late in the half as a Benson basket was wiped out because a replay showed it was released after the shot clock expired and Smith beat the buzzer with a 24-foot shot that rattled out, bounced off the top of the backboard and fell in the hoop.

Regardless of the final outcome, White coach Bill Peterson -- Orlando's D-League coach in Erie, Pa. -- took great pride in how well his team performed all week.

"We didn't execute at the end as well as we needed to to win the basketball game, but the effort, passion and energy that we played with all week was really good," Peterson said. "I'm just really proud. I told (the team) that I wish my team in Erie would scrap and fight like this. We got down 20-4 and everybody else could have quit on us, but we got the lead and went up double digits in the second half. It showed the resilience that we had to keep fighting. They were like that all week and it was fun."

Memphis' Smith, a 6-foot, 165-pounder, was the 47th pick of the 2014 NBA Draft. On Friday, he had 15 points, nine assists and three steals. He finished the week averaging 14.8 points, 6.2 assists and 3.2 steals in five games (four starts).

Appling, who is hoping to earn an invite to the Magic's NBA training camp as a third point guard option, had 15 points, six assists and two steals on Friday. After spending all last season starring at Orlando's D-League affiliate in Erie, Pa., Appling was Magic White's top player all week by averaging 15.6 points, 3.0 assists and three steals.

Peterson, who has an extensive background as a NBA assistant and development coach, said that players such as Appling, Benson and Singleton played well enough this week to get invites to NBA training camps in October.

"There are three or four of the guys on our team who could easily be on another NBA roster, but they just need another opportunity," Peterson said. "Hopefully this showing will give them another opportunity. I had (NBA executives and scouts) come up to me throughout the week and say, 'Tell me about Chris Singleton. I didn't know he played like that. Or I'm surprised how he played.' But our entire group was really good for being together such a short period of time."

Memphis' Adams was highly complimentary of the way Magic White became the Cinderella story of the Summer League. Peterson said that his team's willingness to play together is an example to others of what can be accomplished through unity.

"It shows you when you get a group with high character and they are willing to do what you ask them to do as a coach, you can have great things happen," Peterson said. "These guys came in here just wanting a shot to get into a vet camp or an opportunity to play with a better team overseas. If we were 0-5, there wouldn't be anybody talking to me or talking to them. But we were 4-0, we beat the other Magic team when we scrimmaged them and we had a shot to win the game today. So obviously we were one of the best teams here and we showed it throughout the week. Now, we just hope that some of those guys will get some opportunities."

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Grizzlies defeat Magic to win 2015 Orlando Pro Summer League Championship

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Grizzlies vs. Magic: Photos

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Grizzlies vs. Thunder: Photos

Dan Savage

It's hard enough for young players to break into the rotation of an NBA team. It's even harder when that squad has reached the Western Conference Semifinals two of the last three years.

However, that's the tough task that Jarnell Stokes, Russ Smith and Jordan Adams are faced with. And they're doing their best in the Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League to show that their time has come.

Stokes fired off a team-high 18 points and Smith and Adams each scored 17 to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to an 87-81 victory on Thursday. With the win, Memphis improved to 4-0 and earned a spot in the Championship Game on Friday.

"I'm glad we've all been able to come out, perform and make a good name for the Grizzlies," Stokes said.

The trio has done their fair share to help the Grizzlies remain undefeated in summer league action.

"All of us have come out and done different things well," Stokes explained.

Stokes is averaging 13.3 points and 6.8 rebounds and has been a force down low, implementing tactics he learned from Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol over the course of last season.

"I just try to play the right way and play hard," he said. "I felt I've done a pretty good job of that this summer league."

Smith has shot the lights out, knocking down 55.3 percent of his shots from the field, while posting 14.8 points, 5.5 assists and 3.3 steals per game.

"He's made a lot of jumps," Stokes said of his teammate. "He's just running the team and constantly talking."

Memphis has also received quality production from Adams, the No. 22 selection in the 2014 NBA Draft. He leads the Grizzlies in scoring, averaging 17.3 points per contest.

"He's getting his hands on a lot of ball, being active and defensively being a guard version of a beast," Stokes said of Adams. "He's brought so much energy to the table, he's been a big reason why we're winning."

Although the Thunder struggled to defend the rack, allowing 40 points in the paint, Mitch McGary was once again a bright spot for Oklahoma City.

The 6'10 power forward notched 16 points and seven rebounds for the Thunder.

Semaj Christon scored a game-high 19 points, while Quinn Cook, an undrafted guard from Duke's National Championship squad, made his presence felt notching 15 points, five assists and five rebounds off the bench.

The Grizzlies will take on the Orlando White team in the Championship on Friday at 11am (CT).

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Grizzlies storm past Thunder 87-81

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Rare is it ever the case where a basketball game ends in sudden-death fashion, but that’s what it ultimately took to decide a back-and-forth, double-overtime game between the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.

Russ Smith hit a short floater in the lane after Jarnell Stokes outfought Orlando’s Aaron Gordon for a rebound, giving Memphis a 73-71 victory in fourth-day action of the Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League.

Smith scored 20 points and made nine of 12 shots, including a 3-pointer with 26.4 seconds left in regulation that forced the first overtime period. Facing off most of the day against former University of Louisville teammate Peyton Siva, Smith’s high-arching shot just minutes into the second OT kept Memphis (3-0) undefeated in summer league play.

"I haven't had that (sudden death ending) since like fifth grade, I think," said Magic second-round pick Tyler Harvey, who had five points and two rebounds in nearly 12 minutes of action. "It's different, but it's a one-possession game and every shot matters. It was interesting."

The Grizzlies were down as much as 17 points early in the game and trailed by 12 at intermission before launching a rally. Memphis wiped out 39-28 halftime deficit by outscoring the Magic 19-10 in the third quarter and starting the fourth period with a 10-0 run.

Orlando’s second-half drought came to an end with a 9-0 spurt keyed by six points by Gordon and a Gordon assist for a Devyn Marble 3-pointer.

Orlando led 69-61 with 2 minutes left in regulation before the Grizzlies came storming back to tie the game and force the extra periods. Jordan Adams scored 15 points and Tony Crocket added 12. Stokes, a second-year pro out of the University of Tennessee, had nine points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Orlando’s Gordon continued his breakout week at the Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League with a strong start and a stellar finish. Gordon made his first three shots, struggled through a one-of-10 drought and then pumped in 13 points in the fourth quarter.

Gordon, the summer league’s leading scorer (21.7 points) and rebounder (11.7 boards), scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Orlando (1-2). Gordon made eight of 19 shots, drilled three 3-pointers and added seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks. But Gordon was upset with himself for not coming up with the rebound that the muscular Stokes snatched away to set up Smith’s sudden-death shot for the win.

"(The sudden-death format) kind of threw me off at the end," said Gordon, who said the last sudden-death basketball game he played in was in AAU. "When they missed the shot, I figured, 'Now, it’s our turn.' But that’s not how it works and you have to get the rebound. That’s on me – we didn’t get the rebound and I hate losing."

Magic standout point guard Elfrid Payton and No. 5 pick in the June 25th NBA Draft Mario Hezonja were given the day off and didn’t play. Payton, who finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting this past season, started and played extensive minutes in the first two summer league games while averaging 5.5 points and 6.5 assists.

Hezonja, 20, could be done for the week as a precautionary measure. He’s already played 53 games in the Spanish League and EuroLeague and he’s set to play with the Croatian National Team in the Euro Basket tournament in September. Hezonja, a 6-foot-8, 218-pound small forward, hit the game-winning 3-pointer in Saturday’s victory and he had two thunderous dunks in Monday’s loss.

Clearly motivated by a sloppy, turnover-fill performance on Monday, Orlando played hard in the first half and led 39-28 at intermission. The Magic made 14 of 31 shots, including four 3-pointers – more than made all of Monday.

For a third straight game, Gordon got off to a great start with an array of perimeter shots. Gordon, who came into the game averaging 21.5 points and 14 rebounds, scored 10 straight points in the first quarter of Saturday’s game and he had 10 of the first 12 on Monday. On Tuesday, he scored Orlando’s first seven points – a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer, a finger roll after ball-faking from the perimeter and an elbow-extended pull-up jumper.

Siva, the former University of Louisville standout who spent all of last season in the Development League, took advantage of the starting opportunity with Payton being rested. Fighting to show the Magic that he is worthy of a training camp invite, Siva scored seven points and handed out six assists in the first half. More importantly, the Magic were a plus-11 on the scoreboard in his 14 minutes on the floor in the first two quarters.

Siva finished with seven points, seven rebounds and two steals in almost 32 minutes.

The Grizzlies will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday at 4pm (CT).

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Grizzlies win 2OT thriller against Magic

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.

The Grizzlies will take on the Orlando Magic on Tuesday at Noon (CT).

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Grizzlies top Hornets in Orlando, 79-75

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Grizzlies vs. Nets: Photos

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