The Portland Trail Blazers got a measure of revenge on Tuesday by knocking off the Los Angeles Lakers 91-73 in the final of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
The game was a rematch of the previous year’s Summer League final, in which the Lakers beat the Blazers to win the 2017 title.
Portland Finishes Summer Undefeated
With the win, Portland finished the Las Vegas Summer League with a perfect 7-0 record, becoming only the third team ever to finish undefeated in the competition.
The Blazers, who never trailed in the game, had six players in double figures, led by K.J. McDaniels who scored 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
According to Portland coach Terry Stotts, the team’s success was due to the fact that every player on their roster had a reason for wanting to succeed in Summer League play.
“We had two rookies, we had Zach [Collins] and Caleb [Swanigan] who were rookies last year and needed to be in Summer League,” Stotts told Sports Illustrated. “Wade Baldwin and Jake Layman really hadn’t done much on the NBA stage. K.J. McDaniels and Archie Goodwin have bounced around. We had some experienced players but there wasn’t one guy who didn’t need to be in Summer League and show what they could do.”
Hart Wins Summer League MVP
The Lakers had compiled a 6-0 record themselves heading into the final. Earlier on Tuesday, Los Angeles guard Josh Hart was named Summer League MVP, and went into the final having averaged 24.2 points per game in the tournament.
But Hart didn’t have a vintage performance in the championship game. He was held to just 12 points on 3-of-12 shooting, and was ejected from the game with under five minutes remaining after picking up his second technical foul for arguing calls.
Afterwards, Hart acknowledged that “it was cool” to win the MVP award, but said he was disappointed in how the tournament ended for the Lakers.
“We came in and missed shots and we fell in the hole and we couldn’t find a rhythm,” Hart told SI. “After this horrible game today, I can’t wait to get back to training camp and wash this taste out of my mouth.”
Hart was joined on the All-NBA Summer League first team by Wendell Carter Jr. (Chicago Bulls), Kevin Knox (New York Knicks), Collin Sexton (Cleveland Cavaliers), and Christian Wood (Milwaukee Bucks). No. 1 overall draft pick Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns was among those receiving second-team honors.
Portland wasn’t the favorite heading into the NBA Summer League, but they were certainly considered a strong contender. The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook made Phoenix (8/1) the favorite in its opening odds, with Portland listed at 12/1 and the Lakers at 25/1.
Unfortunately for the Trail Blazers, Summer League success doesn’t have much of a correlation with results in the NBA season. William Hill has made Portland a 100/1 longshot to win the 2019 NBA Championship, far behind the likes of the Golden State Warriors (4/7), Boston Celtics (6/1) and Houston Rockets (6/1).
