SummerBulls in LVSL Playoffs: Valentine, Portis Lead, Bulls Advance Again
The SummerBulls won their first four games in Las Vegas, including their second-round victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the LVSL tournament. On Saturday, the Bulls about gave away a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, but hung on to advance.
Jarell Eddie could not miss for the Washington Wizards on Saturday night in Las Vegas, but he missed a game-tying triple in the final seconds and the SummerBulls advanced in the Las Vegas Summer League tournament with an 88-85 victory.
Eddie led the Wizards with 22 points and drained five three-pointers on seven attempts, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the now 5-0 SummerBulls.
Bobby Portis once again led the way for the SummerBulls with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Denzel Valentine played his best game of the summer, logging 14 points, 10 rebounds and three assists while making four triples on six attempts.
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The SummerBulls got 10 points from Patrick Miller and his humongous biceps off the bench to advance to the LVSL semifinals where they’ll play the winner of the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers. The winner of that semifinal game will play the winner of the other semifinal game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns.
Notes from Saturday night’s win for the SummerBulls:
- Saturday was easily Denzel Valentine’s best game of the summer circuit. It was more than just the numbers. Valentine looked comfortable handling the basketball and his ability to drive and kick to open teammates was a beautiful sight to see, especially in transition. (He also drained two clutch free throws in the final seconds to push the SummerBulls’ lead to 88-85 with just under seven seconds left.)
This is the Bulls' hope for Valentine. He gets the rebound, goes length of floor, drives + kicks for 3 pic.twitter.com/eJboIdomTf
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) July 17, 2016
- If the season started tomorrow for the main roster Bulls, the case could be made for Spencer Dinwiddie to be the backup point guard to Rajon Rondo on the depth chart. Jerian Grant has not looked sharp at all during his time in Vegas, especially on Saturday night. Grant shot 3-of-14 from the field and missed all seven three-point attempts. Dinwiddie did miss nine of his 12 shot attempts as well in his worst Vegas performance on Saturday, but based off their Vegas performances overall, Dinwiddie’s been the better option as a lead guard.
- The SummerBulls almost pulled a 2015-16 Bulls by getting outscored in the final quarter, 23-17. The Bulls led 81-69 with 6:24 left in the game. From that point, the Wizards outscored the SummerBulls by nine down the stretch (16-7). The legs get a little heavy the more games you play during the summer league, but like all summer league games, there’s some good and some bad.
Hat tip to Jarell Eddie (22 points, 5-of-7 from long range)
Not only did Jarell Eddie cut the SummerBulls’ lead to 86-85 with 8.7 left in the game, he about tied the game on a long three-pointer as time was set to expire. He kept the Wizards in the game all night and drained a beautiful shot (on an even better set out of a timeout) over Bobby Portis out of the timeout to make the game interesting in the final seconds.
Next: The Bulls make it official: the Bulls sign Dwyane Wade, Paul Zipser
What’s next for the SummerBulls?
The Bulls will play the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night for the right to play in Monday’s LVSL tournament title game. Tip-off time is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT on ESPN 2.