Juan Blanco, Rotoworld
LAS VEGAS — The Los Angeles Lakers rode a dominant first quarter and five double-digit scoring performances to a 101-78 win over the Detroit Pistons in a Las Vegas Summer League quarterfinal-round playoff game at Thomas and Mack Center on Sunday afternoon.
The Lakers (5-0) opened the game with a 33-point first quarter made all the more impressive by the fact they limited the Pistons (3-3) to 14 points as well. Although Detroit put together a 26-point tally in the second, they still trailed by a 55-40 margin at intermission. That quarter would turn out to be the high point of the game of the Pistons, as they were outscored, 46-38, in the second half.
The game was tied just once, when Henry Ellenson drained a 26-foot 3-point jumper at the 8:56 mark of the first quarter to erase a 3-0 Lakers lead. Los Angeles set the pace the rest of the way, and as the final score implies, they held a sizable advantages in most categories on the stat sheet. Their two biggest edges came in shooting and rebounding, as the Lakers drained 47.0 percent of their 83 attempts (compared to 34.7 percent for the Pistons) and hauled in 44 boards while limiting Detroit to 33.
Ellenson led the way for the Pistons with 22 points and added five assists, four rebounds and one steal. Zack Lofton followed with 21 points, five rebounds, one assist and one block. Bruce Brown totaled 11 points despite shooting just 3-for-17 from the field and also posted six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Reggie Hearn delivered 10 points, three rebounds and one steal.
Svi Mykhailiuk paced the Lakers with 19 points, complementing them with four rebounds and two assists. Josh Hart checked in with 18 points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals. Xavier Rathan-Mayes finished with 11 points, seven assists and four rebounds. Jeff Ayres generated a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double that also included two assists and one block. Nick King matched Ayres’ scoring total off the bench and added eight boards, two assists, one steal and one block.
