The Las Vegas Summer League officially kicked off Sunday, and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns in Game 1.
The Lakers got off to an 8-0 start, but the Suns slowly chipped away with Jalen Smith, the No. 10 overall pick in 2020, making active plays on both ends of the floor.
Austin Reaves and Devontae Cacok each played key roles, primarily in scoring the ball, to help the Lakers to a halftime lead.
But after halftime, it was all Phoenix. The Suns outscored L.A. 28-19 in the third quarter and even held a 10-point lead at one point, which was the largest lead any team had in the game.
Then, in the fourth quarter, the Lakers flipped the switch and developed a comeback of their own. Mac McClung was at the heart of it as he made fantastic hustle plays on defense that led to mid-range jumpers on the other end, though his overall shooting display looked rough.
The biggest play of the night, though, went to Reaves. With the Lakers trailing 72-71 in the final seconds, Reaves scored a ridiculous off-balance putback by banking it in to win the game for L.A., courtesy of the NBA:
🗣 "AUSTIN REAVES ON TIME!"
The clutch putback puts the @Lakers back up by one on ESPN2! pic.twitter.com/SDkhTJh6do
— NBA (@NBA) August 9, 2021
Cacok led L.A. with 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. Reaves and Chaundee Brown both added 11 points. Reaves also grabbed four rebounds and generated one steal. He was the primary initiator for many plays, but L.A. didn’t have the best shooting night.
McClung rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points, but he shot 2-of-9 (0-of-4 3-pointers) from the field. However, he drilled all six of his free throws to go with four rebounds and a block, including multiple crucial plays that didn’t show up on the box score.
Game 2 for L.A. will be on Wednesday, Aug. 11 at 7:00 p.m. PST against the New York Knicks (0-1).
