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Sacramento escaped the Cox Pavilion with a win over Dallas despite the final score not telling the entire story.
The Kings came away with a 86-70 win over the Mavericks on day eight of the MGM Resorts Summer League.
With the win, Sacramento remains undefeated at 4-0 in Las Vegas.
It looked good in the early going with the team going 5-of-12 from three-point range in the first quarter.
Guard Jah’mius Ramsey scored seven points on 3-of-5 shooting that quarter.
Rookie Davion Mitchell did not score his first basket of the game until the 5:06 mark of the second quarter.
Both players would not score again until the second half.
During that time, Dallas made a run and would briefly take a 41-40 lead in the second quarter.
It was the team’s first lead since being up 7-6 in the first quarter.
The Mavericks inability to take care of the ball proved to be the difference as they committed 11 of their 17 turnovers in the second half. Taking advantage of those opportunities, the Kings pushed the lead to 20 in the fourth quarter, it’s largest of the game.
Forwards Louis King led the team in scoring with 18 points apiece on 5-of-9 shooting.
Dallas was led by 12 points from guard Carlik Jones.
With 3:03 left in regulation, the Mavericks’ Eugene Omoruyi laid a hard foul on a driving Chimezie Metu of the Kings.
Metu hopped up after hitting the floor and promptly threw a right hand that landed flush to the left side of Omoruyi’s head.
After review, Omoruyi was called for a flagrant two foul while Metu was called for a punching foul.
Both were ejected.
Clippers earn first win of Vegas summer league, handing Jazz first loss
From the tip, one may not have been able to tell the Los Angeles Clippers were without a win during the Las Vegas summer league.
The Clips squeaked away with a 94-90 win over the Utah Jazz, securing their first win of the summer league while handing their opponent their first loss.
Utah kept it close for as long as it could, cutting a big double-digit lead down to seven with a minute and a half left in regulation and down to five inside of a minute.
The Jazz had it down to three with under 15 seconds as well.
A 16-5 run to close the first half changed the complexion of the game as Los Angeles went into halftime up nine.
Forward Amir Coffey scored eight of his game-high 20 points in the third quarter including two of his five made three-pointers.
Three straight turnovers by Utah led to the largest deficit to that point which was 13 points.
However, Coffey’s fifth three-pointer pushed the lead to 14 in the fourth quarter.
Rookie Keon Johnson added 17 points on 50% shooting from the floor.
Utah was led by two scorers who posted 18 points apiece in center Udoka Azubuike and guard Trent Forrest.
Forrest had 10 points in the first quarter on 2-of-5 shooting. He was held to eight points on 5-of-14.
Minnesota survives big day from Reed, beats Philadelphia to stay undefeated
Minnesota needed a strong start to the fourth quarter and a dominant overtime period to help the team oust Philadelphia, 99-96, from Cox Pavilion.
The Timberwolves had to overcome a nearly superhuman effort from the Sixers’ Paul Reed.
Heading into the fourth quarter, Minnesota held onto a two-point lead but a 10-3 run to open the frame regained control.
Still, Philadelphia fought back to tie the game and even took the lead with as little as 13.8 seconds to go on a three-pointer from rookie Jaden Springer.
A three-point response from forward Jaden McDaniels sent the game into overtime, tied at 91 apiece.
Coming into the game, the Timberwolves needed an eight-point win to pass Sacramento for second place in the Las Vegas summer league.
Guard Jaylen Nowell led the way with 26 points including 16 in the fourth quarter and overtime period.
In addition, he drained both of the three-pointers for the Wolves in overtime.
Nowell also added seven rebounds and a steal.
Reed had a double-double at halftime with 16 points, 12 rebounds to go along with three assists and three blocks.
He finished with 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting accompanied with 20 rebounds, four assists, four steals and four blocks.
It was the second 20-20 game in summer league history and the first since 2015.
Unorthodox ending to Pelicans 80-79 win over Warriors
It was a controversial ending to a close one as the New Orleans Pelicans improved to 4-0 during the Las Vegas summer league.
The Pelicans defeated the Golden State Warriors, 80-79, in overtime from the Cox Pavilion.
Coming into the game, New Orleans needed an 11-point win to secure a date with the Boston Celtics in the championship game Tuesday, Aug. 17.
A block by No. 7 overall pick Johnathan Kuminga that was called goaltending was changed after a coach’s challenge from Warriors head coach Kris Weems.
Despite the call being changed, because the referee blew the whistle while the Pelicans were in an upward shooting motion, they were awarded the two points while their opponent was awarded the ball.
Following the explanation, the Cox Pavilion visibly disagreed with the decision as “Boos” rained down from the stands.
Rookie Trey Murphy III continued to have himself a great summer league adding another 22 points on 8-of-12 from the field to his ledger. Murphy scored 10 of New Orleans’ 17 first quarter points and found himself locked into a battle on both ends with Kuminga.
Kuminga chipped in with 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting in the losing effort.
With the game tied at 64, Murphy drained the go-ahead three for the Pels.
Although, he missed another with his team down two inside of a minute and a half left in regulation.
However, with another chance to impact the game, tied at 74, Murphy blocked Kuminga’s turnaround fadeaway attempt.
Murphy was the only player in double-figures for New Orleans until 2:07 left in the fourth quarter when second-year forward Naji Marshall joined him.
Marshall hit the deck multiple times on a night where he shot 5-of-17, ending up with 14 points.
Marshall tied the game at 74 with a layup and nearly scored another game-tying basket to send it to overtime.
Fellow second-year player, Kira Lewis Jr., had an even tougher night, being held to 4 points on 1-for-11 from the floor.