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It has become a ritual for the No. 1 and No. 2 picks to square off during the NBA Summer League.
On day three, this year’s ritual came to fruition as Detroit’s Cade Cunningham played against Houston’s Jalen Green for the first time as professionals.
Green’s Rockets came away with a lopsided win, 111-91, over Cunningham’s PIstons.
Unlike most marquee matchups, this one provided an opportunity for both guys to guard each other.
Green had a rough start to the game going 0-for-1 in the first quarter with four points, three rebounds and three turnovers.
On the other hand, Cunningham was 2-for-5 in the first, coming away with five points, a rebound, an assist and a steal.
Detroit built a lead as large as 10 points but would see it dissipate yet again.
Houston would later take a 32-30 lead and that changed the direction of the game.
The Rockets went into halftime up 11 points even with Cunningham performing a highlight reel play when he shook Green with a behind-the-back crossover followed by a drained three-pointer. The lead would only grow for Houston in the second half as rookie Josh Christopher continued to get comfortable in his second professional game.
Christopher finished with 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go along with seven assists and three rebounds.
Rookie center Alperen Sengün also added 22 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.
Christopher even threw down a two-hand reverse alley-oop pass from Green in the fourth quarter.
Green’s night ended with a 17 points, five rebound, three assists stat line.
The icing on the cake came in the form of a three-point basket from Green that pushed the lead to 18 points with just two minutes remaining in regulation.
Every Houston starter scored in double figures.
Cooper’s dagger drops Indiana to 0-2
Atlanta Hawks rookie Sharife Cooper made up for a late-game blunder in the biggest way when he drained a corner three as time expired to help his Hawks beat the Indiana Pacers, 84-83 on day three.
Cooper committed a crucial turnovers just the play before. It was his sixth of the game.
However, after a steal by guard Max Heidegger and assist, Cooper went from scapegoat to savoir for Atlanta with one shot.
The Hawks saw the Pacers comeback after they had built a lead as large as 13 points in a game that featured 10 lead changes and three ties.
Cooper finished with 21 points and a game-high nine assists on 8-of-14 from the field including going 5-of-8 from behind the arc.
His play outdueled Indiana rookie Chris Duarte, who scored 21 points on 8-of-19 shooting in 30 minutes of time on the floor.
Bol strong again as Nuggets lose again
Center Bol Bol had his second 20-point outing in the first three days of the NBA Summer League. However, his team is still looking for its first win.
Bol followed up a 21-point performance in the summer showcase opener with 26 more points in a 107-82 loss to the Boston Celtics.
Bol shot 8-of-12 from the floor including four made threes adding nine rebounds and two blocks.
In addition, the team was bolstered by the professional debut of guard Nah’Shon Hyland, also known as “Bones.”
Hyland recorded 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field to go along with seven assists.
However, the Nuggets’ combo was met with 33 points from Celtic forward Aaron Nesmith, who shot 13-of-18 from the field including going 7-of-9 from three-point range.
As a team, Boston shot 15-of-32 from three while holding Denver to 7-of-26.