As we gently approach the end of the Summer League, seven games are on the program for this Friday evening. Between injuries and precautions taken by the managements, a few big names will be missing. But there is still plenty to do, including a nice Thunder-Warriors, and tricolors involved in several matches. Come on, send the program!
The evening program:
- 23h : Jazz – Clippers
- 0h : Nuggets – Sixers
- 1h : Warriors – Thunder
- 2h : Suns – Kings
- 3h : Wizards – Pacers
- 4h : Raptors – Heat
- 5h : Pelicans – Lakers
So we start this marathon of seven games, all one hour apart, with a small game scheduled for 11 p.m. between the Jazz and the Clippers. Perhaps the opportunity to see Moussa Diabaté at work, impacting in the racket for a week but absent in the last match. Led by Brandon Boston and Jay Scrubb, the Californians will try to take over a team from Utah which shines with its collective (seven players with 10 points on average). At midnight, we will quickly continue with a Nuggets-Sixers. Behind Matt Mitchell, Peyton Watson and other Jack Whites, there is a way that we see Ismael Kamagaté again with the Denver jersey. After the entrance, we get down to business with a sympathetic Warriors-Thunder between two franchises that put young people in the spotlight : on one side, we find Chet Holmgren, Josh Giddey and the Frenchie Ousmane Dieng. On the other, Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman and the unexpected Moses Moody. Something to have fun with young shoots that are gaining momentum while waiting for the start of the season. The sequel offers us a Suns-Kings which looks pretty cool too. MVP of the final of the 2021 edition with Sacramento, Louis King has gone to the other camp and will be keen to show his former team that he is the king of the Summer League in Las Vegas. He can count on the support of the French Olivier Sarr and the improbable Jo Lual-Acuil to face the darling of this summer among the rookies, Keegan Murray.
The second game of the night will begin with a meeting between Wizards and Pacers. The men of Indiana will want to console themselves for the non-arrival of Deandre Ayton by winning another victory. Rather comfortable in the first matches, Bennedict Mathurin will again be expected in a duel with a Johnny Davis who is expected at a level much higher than what he has shown so far.. The following ? The Raptors face the Heat of the terrible Jamaree Bouyea at 4am. Accompanied by his friends Marcus Garrett and Javonte Smart (a duo reminiscent of a certain Celtics point guard), Jean-Marie will try to lead Miami to a second victory against the ambitious Raptors of Dalano Banton and DJ Wilson. Our night will end with a final “poster” between Pelicans and Lakers. With the absence of almost all the interesting players from their roster, the strange birds find themselves well plucked for this 4th game. Still, with two wins in three games, New Orleans reminds everyone that nothing is impossible in Vegas this July. New evidence at 5 a.m.? This will require taking over the team of Nate Pierre-Louis, Sacha Killeya-Jones and Scotty Pippen Jr.
Seven games, expected rookies, Frenchies who want to make their place and a good dose of guys with twisted names who become basketball stars for one night. No doubt, all the ingredients are there to spend a new beautiful evening. One of the last of this summer, so let’s take advantage of it!