A look at top performers from Day 4 at Las Vegas Summer League:
Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets
Alperen Sengun, selected 16th overall in the 2021 Draft, scored 15 points and added 15 rebounds in his Summer League debut.
On a day that featured seven MGM Resorts Summer League games and produced several worthy candidates, the Player of the Day honor goes to Rockets big man Alperen Sengun.
The No. 16 overall pick in the 2021 Draft finished Sunday’s win against the Cavaliers with 15 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, four blocks and one steal in 27 minutes. Sengun, who turned 19 less than three weeks ago, battled on both ends with Cleveland’s Evan Mobley. The USC product had his moments, but Sengun got the best of the No. 3 overall pick, who picked up four fouls and committed five turnovers in the 84-76 defeat.
While Sengun shot just 3-for-10 from the field and 0-for-1 from deep, he made a living at the free-throw line, converting nine of his game-high 14 attempts. Seven of Sengun’s 15 rebounds came on the offensive end.
On Draft night, the Rockets traded with the Thunder to acquire the 16th pick to select Sengun, a native of Giresun, Turkey. Widely regarded as one of the most polished big men in the Draft, Sengun spent last season with Besiktas in Turkey. Across 34 appearances between league and Europa Cup play, Sengun averaged 18.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.6 blocks per game.
Sengun joins No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green, Josh Christopher and Usman Garuba as the Rockets’ four first-round picks expected to be on the roster for the 2021-22 season.
Jalen Green, Houston Rockets
Jalen Green scores 23 points in Summer League debut on Sunday.
The No. 2 overall Draft pick put on a show in his Summer League debut, pouring in 23 points to lead all scorers in the Rockets 84-76 win against the Cavs.
The former G League Ignite standout added five rebounds and two assists to his performance on Sunday. Green demonstrated his ability to get through defenders and hit crafty step-back jumpers.
Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors
Scottie Barnes records double-double in Raptors' victory over the Knicks.
Barnes, who was selected No. 4 overall in this year’s Draft, recorded a double-double to lead the Raptors to their 89-79 victory against the Knicks.
The young forward out of Florida State finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals in his Summer League debut.
Kai Jones, Charlotte Hornets
The No. 19 overall pick made quite the impression in the Hornets’ 93-86 loss to the Blazers.
Jones recorded a double-double in his Summer League debut, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds along with two assists.
The 6-foot-10 forward from the Bahamas had the fans inside Cox Pavilion on their feet in the fourth quarter when he exploded past his defenders and soared for a huge one-handed dunk.
KAI JONES
The rookie takes off for the huge slam!
: NBA TV pic.twitter.com/jjN8U8cL3w
— NBA (@NBA) August 8, 2021
Payton Pritchard, Boston Celtics
Payton Pritchard made seven three-pointers in Sunday's win against the Hawks.
The second-year guard out of Oregon led all scorers to help Boston secure the 85-83 victory against the Hawks on Sunday.
Pritchard’s improvement after one season in the NBA was on display tonight. He poured in 23 points and shot 7-for-15 (46.7%) from behind the arc.
He averaged 7.7 points in 66 games for the Celtics last season and played in five of Boston’s postseason games.
Obi Toppin & Immanuel Quickley, New York Knicks
Toppin, a former lottery pick from 2020, scored 24 points and added eight rebounds in the Knicks’ 89-79 loss to the Raptors.
The 23-year-old forward played in 62 games for New York last season, averaging 4.1 points per game.
Quickley, who also saw significant playing time with the Knicks last season, was the second-leading scorer in Sunday’s loss. The former first-round pick finished with 15 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
Information from RotoWire was used in this report.
