1. Block party – Damian Jones and Jordan Bell gave plenty of reasons for Warriors fans to salivate over their potential Tuesday night, nine of them being the combined number of rejections between the two against the Timberwolves. Bell’s six blocks and Jones’ three helped protect the paint and limit the Timberwolves to 34 percent shooting in a losing effort. The Summer Dubs totaled 12 blocks in all, a very hefty number.
2. More on Bell – The Duck did a little bit (or a lotta bit) of everything Tuesday night, also going for five points, 11 rebounds, five assists and five steals in addition to his six blocks, giving him a five-by-five. Yes, it’s Summer League, and stats in Las Vegas don’t necessarily mean a guy is going to dominate or struggle in the NBA regular season, but Jordan Bell was the Draymond Green of Summer League Tuesday night. I was impressed by his ability to finish through contact Tuesday night, converting a tough and-one in the third quarter.
3. Summer League is for experimentation – While the main point of Summer League is for rookies to get pre-training camp reps and for undrafted, G League and overseas guys to compete for roster spots, Summer League also fulfills other roles. One such purpose is rules experimentation, and the Warriors found themselves involved in arguably the most exciting rule change special to Summer League – sudden death overtime (for the pre-tournament games). After the Dubs and T-Wolves each scored three points in the first two-minute overtime period, the teams entered a next-basket-wins format. Sudden death doesn’t make sense for the NBA regular season and postseason for obvious reasons, but for Summer League? It’s perfect, making for exciting endings and helping to keep a four-games-a-day-per-venue schedule somewhat on track. Unfortunately for the Warriors, they came out on the wrong side of it this time around, but it creates a sense of urgency you wouldn’t otherwise see in July basketball.
Santa Cruz Warriors broadcaster Kevin Danna is providing the play-by-play for the Warriors’ Summer League audio broadcasts. Catch his next call on 95.7 The Game or the Warriors Mobile App when the Dubs begin the tournament portion of Summer League play on Wednesday.