A game that was only decided by five points, the Bulls pull out the 86-81 victory over the Cavaliers. Along with out-shooting Cleveland, Chicago was more stout defensively. They had both more blocks and steals than Cleveland. Great performances by Wendell Carter Jr. and Antonio Blakeney were able to beat out Collin Sexton and Ante Zizic.
Wendell Carter Jr. Throws a Block Party
Carter had a tremendous game of 16 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and 5 blocks. Without his performance, the Bulls would have probably fallen to Cleveland. His blocks were impressive, his rebounding was much-needed, and he had a nice day from deep, as he converted 2-3 from beyond the three-point line. There wasn’t much about Carter’s game that was bad. An extremely impressive outing for the rookie.
The surprising performance was from Antonio Blakeney, who poured in 25 points on 10-19 shooting. He did struggle from deep, however, and had five turnovers, but his scoring was able to get the win. This Summer League game for him should definitely turn some heads, as he looks to build on this in the future.
Collin Sexton Outmatched
Sexton only had 14 points and couldn’t get anything going from deep. He also only had 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Cavs fans should hope to see more from this young stud. If he is struggling from the field, it would be nice to see him get others involved more often. His game was put in the shadow of Blakeney all night. Sexton needs to do more than just trying to score the ball.
Another notable performance was Ante Zizic. The big man had 25 points and 11 rebounds. His defensive effort was not as impressive as Carter’s, but what we brought to the table was much-needed. Without Zizic in this game, the Cavaliers would have been run out of the building. It will be interesting to see if Cleveland uses his young talent this season or not. If he could stretch the floor more, he would be battling for a lot of minutes.
More NBA Summer League
Malik Beasley Scores 19 as Nuggets Beat Celtics
Wayne Selden Shines for Memphis as they Defeat Detroit
TJ Leaf Leads Pacers Past Spurs
Zhaire Smith Impressive, but Josh Hart Leads Lakers to Victory
