NBA Summer League roundup: Tre Jones, Cam Thomas come up clutch late for respective teams

The 2021 NBA Summer League slate continues in Las Vegas on Thursday with eight games tipping off.

The day began with arguably the best game of Summer League so far as the San Antonio Spurs survived a 106-105 track meet with the Charlotte Hornets. Tre Jones was brilliant for the Spurs as he nailed the go-ahead layup with just 1.6 seconds left on the clock.

In the third game Summer League game to go to sudden death in two days, Cam Thomas buried a walk-off three off one leg to lift the Brooklyn Nets over the Washington Wizards in an 84-81 victory.

Headlining the day’s slate will be No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green and his Houston Rockets, who will will match up against the Toronto Raptors at 8 p.m. ET on NBA TV. Green came out victorious in his marquee battle with No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday, dropping 25 points in the 111-91 victory. He’ll be matched up against another top-five pick in Scottie Barnes, who had 13 points and eight rebounds in a 90-84 loss to Golden State on Wednesday.

Here we’ll be recapping all the games for Thursday, August 12th.

NBA Summer League recaps

Spurs 106, Hornets 105

Tre Jones managed to complete a contested layup with 1.6 left to lift the San Antonio Spurs over the Charlotte Hornets in a back-and-forth thriller on Thursday. He ended up icing the game with a steal following the ensuing Charlotte inbounds pass. The second-year guard from Duke nearly recorded a triple-double, finishing with 34 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds.

Hornets rookie James Bouknight was nearly the hero of the contest as his layup with 34 seconds remaining pulled Charlotte ahead late. The lottery pick from UConn finished with 23 points and eight assists. Center Vernon Carey Jr. had 19 points and eight boards.

Timberwolves 78, Bulls 59

Jaden McDaniels put up 15 points and eight rebounds as the Wolves blew out the Bulls by 19 on Thursday. Jaylen Nowell and Nathan Knight joined him in double digits with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Patrick Williams put up an 18 point, 10 rebound double-double effort in the loss. Marko Simonovic was the only other Bull that joined him in double-digits with 10 points of his own in the setback.

Nets 84, Wizards 81

Cam Thomas is making a name for himself during Summer League and his latest heroics came in the form of burying a walk-off three-pointer in sudden-death OT to lift the Nets over the Wizards on Thursday. The Wizards and Nets traded possession in the period before Thomas brought the ball up to the top of the key, lost his dribble for second, regrouped, and nailed the game-winner over fellow rookie Corey Kispert for the win. The first-round pick from LSU originally sent the game to sudden death by burying a three with 6.1 left in the first OT.

He led all scorers with 31 points. Jaime Echenique led the Wizards with 17 points and four rebounds before fouling out.

Pacers 97, Trail Blazers 64

Chris Duarte led the way with 19 points and six assists as the Indiana Pacers smothered the Portland Trail Blazers 97-64. The Pacers outscored the Blazers 53-27 in the second half.

Antonio Blakeney and Greg Brown were the only Portland players to score in double-digits with 15 and 12 points, respectively.

Celtics 108, Magic 71

Sam Hauser came off the bench for 21 points, seven assists and four rebounds in a laugher from Boston. Aaron Nesmith added 18 points and nine rebounds as well.

Tahjere McCall led all Magicians with 12 points in just under 11 minutes of play. Orlando was 27 of 73 from the field, while Boston was 41 of 75, including 19 of 44 from three-point range.

Raptors 92, Rockets 76

Ish Wainright led all scorers with 20 points and added seven rebounds, with Memphis’ Precious Achiuwa adding 19 and former San Diego State star Malachi Flynn chipping in 13 for Toronto.

Josh Christopher was the high man for Houston with 14 points, but Houston trailed by 15 at halftime and never closed the gap in the second half. The Rockets drop their first game in Las Vegas after winning their first two, while Toronto is also at 2-1 with the victory.

Sixers 96, Hawks 88 (OT)

The Sixers come back from eight down to start the fourth quarter behind 31 points, six rebounds, and five assists from Tyrese Maxey. Isaiah Joe added 21 points, and Paul Reed added 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers only double-double of the contest.

Sharife Cooper led all Hawks with 21 points and 12 assists despite missing all four three-point attempts, with Skylar Mays adding 20 points as well. It was a win but an ugly one for Philly, with both teams combining to shoot 14 of 65 from three-point range.

Suns 90, Nuggets 84

Jalen Smith scored 21 points and 11 rebounds for the reigning Western Conference Champions, who had Kyle Alexander and Jaleen Smith each adding 15 points. Phoenix was just 26 of 72 from the floor, but 13 of 33 from downtown.

Bol Bol led all Nuggets with 18 points, but was just 6 of 17 from the field in 28 minutes, with Nah’Shon Hyland adding 15 points.