Game 3 of Summer League is now behind us, as the Blazers pulled away from Hawks late after a close-fought matinee game. Portland stayed ahead for most of the game, but neither team could take a significant lead.
At this point, all eyes are clearly on Damian Lillard, who is simply dominating Summer League, and impressing everyone. Once again today he looked like the best player on the court, including a monster dunk. He finished with an eye-popping 31 points, 7 assists and 3 rebounds. If he keeps up these numbers, he will be in the running for the prestigious Summer League MVP award.
Meyers Leonard quietly had a solid performance, with 9 points and 13 rebounds. Neil Olshey said Leonard had a stomach flu during his previous game, so it's unknown if he's still recovering. Even with those solid numbers, his minutes were actually the lowest of the starters.
Will Barton kept his name in discussion all day, showing a few nice defensive plays, contributing 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.
Luke Babbitt scored in double figures and stayed active on the boards, but was generally quiet. Jon Diebler, who replaced the injured Nolan Smith in the starting lineup, did little until some nice shooting late in the game.
Check out the box score here. We're right back in action tomorrow (Friday), 3pm again, against the Denver Nuggets. This game will be replayed a few times on Comcast Sportsnet (6pm, 9pm, 7am) and NBA TV (6am). -- Tim