Five Thoughts: Thunder 76, Pacers 68
The score of Sunday’s opening Summer League game between the Thunder and Pacers was who cares to who cares. Here are five takeaways from it:
- Nothing overly impressive from Steven Adams. Lots of energy, great activity, but a lot of it was misguided. He’s trying to be everywhere, trying to play extremely hard. But sometimes you have to channel and make sure you’re directing that in the right areas. In 20 minutes he had two points, six rebounds and two blocks. And only two fouls, which is often a major problem for raw big guys in these situations. Cole Aldrich was a foul machine. Adams seems to have a little bit better instinct and feel. This was Adams’ first run in a professional setting, after getting somewhat limited time with Pitt. Honestly, it went better than I expected for a first go.
- Jeremy Lamb didn’t play great — 14 points on 5-16 shooting, six rebounds, two assists and he fouled out — but he looked mostly under control and maintained that smooth look. He ran some pick-and-roll, handled the ball and served as a facilitator in a lot of situations. One thing that hurt Lamb some was that Reggie Jackson didn’t play, which meant that Lamb didn’t really have someone setting him up as a scorer much. But maybe that’s a good thing for his development because it means he had the ball more. Lamb is already a quality spot-up shooter, but the question is if he can put the ball on the floor and create for himself.
- So Grant Jerrett can shoot a little bit. Started 4-4 from 3, finished 4-5, scored 17 points which led the team. He’s got a bit of an awkward look in that he’s big and appears to lumber a bit, but the touch is there.
- Daniel Orton looked like he was in better shape and much more assertive and confident. Especially in the first half he was terrific at rolling hard to the bucket. Orton finished with 15 points on 7-11 shooting, and even hit a nifty baseline fadeaway that was easily the most shocking thing you’ll see this week. Orton’s issue is that he doesn’t appear especially active and impactful on the defensive end, but as a roll man with those good hands and big body, he’s not bad at all.
- Andre Roberson didn’t seem to do much of anything. Gonna take some time with him. Somewhat unsure of himself with the ball, not especially decisive. And I don’t think he can shoot. But he tried hard!
Next up: Monday against the Magic at 10 a.m. CT.
