Jul 23, 2024 | Los Angeles, NBA, Sports, Valleys

Lakers End Summer League With Three-Game Winning Streak: LA Summer League Recap

The Los Angeles Lakers finished their Las Vegas Summer League with a 107-81 victory over the Chicago Bulls Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center. Although two straight losses put Los Angeles out of contention for any championship hopes in the Sin City, the Lakers ended their summer run on a quality three-game winning streak.

Thanks to standout performances from rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, Lakers’ Summer League ends on high note. (Courtesy Photo)

By Austin Gage Contributing Sports Writer

After two disappointing losses to the Houston Rockets and the Boston Celtics, the Lakers needed to bounce back in a big way. A big storyline of those first two games involved the first NBA action for rookie guard Bronny James, who endured a shooting slump and scrutiny for poor offensive performances, provided his two best games of the summer against the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

James, who entered Wednesday’s game against Atlanta shooting 4 for 19 from the field and 0 for 11 from three-point range, was able to turn the corner and produce a quality game on the offensive side of the ball for the first time since being drafted 55th overall just a month ago. The USC product connected on two three-pointers in a 12-point performance, including his first deep-range field goal that brought the fans in attendance to their feet.

“Just trying to forget about all the shots I missed, forget about all the games we lost; I just come out and play my game and try to do my best every time I come on the court,” said James.

Another Laker standout in the matchup against the Hawks included second-year center Colin Castleton, who performed at a high level in last season’s summer league as well. Castleton displayed impressive playmaking skills to go along with his usual rebounding and scoring prowess as he finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists. After a rookie season that included some time at Los Angeles’ G-League affiliate South Bay Lakers, Castleton is looking for an opportunity to bring his 14.1 points per game and 9.8 rebounds per game (G-League stats) to a full-time role with the purple and gold.

Missing from the victory over Atlanta was first-round-rookie forward Dalton Knecht. The explosive offensive threat from the University of Tennessee, who also represented the leading scorer for the Lakers this summer, did not play due to a team decision based on the volume of practices and games over the past few weeks. Knecht, who would return the next day in the win vs the Cavaliers, paced Los Angeles this summer with 21.3 points per game. He looks to slide right in as a complimentary piece for Lakers superstar forwards Lebron James and Anthony Davis in the fall as another lethal option.

20 points from Knecht and another 13 from James pushed Los Angeles past Cleveland Thursday night in a 93-89 win. James produced his best game of the summer in the triumph, and all of his shooting-slump demons seemed to be eliminated with a smooth step-back 3-pointer to shrink the then-Cavalier lead to just two late in the fourth quarter.

After James’ three, the Lakers made sure that Cleveland would not score a single point the rest of the game. Topped by an easy Knecht layup set up by a smooth Castleton assist and two clutch free throws by Knecht to push the lead to two possessions at the very end of the game, Los Angeles was able to secure their second victory of the summer. The victory would mark both the last times Knecht and James would lace up this summer and brought the Lakers to .500 in Las Vegas with a 2-2 overall record.

“Just stayed confident, locked in on the defensive end, [took] open shots and knocked them down,” Knecht said after the game describing how the Lakers were able to escape with the win.

Saturday’s consolation matchup against the Bulls was a high-scoring one, and one that provided opportunities for a few other rookie Laker hoopers to showcase their own games. Guards Blake Hinson, out of the University of Pittsburgh, and Quincy Olivari, out of Xavier University, both provided explosive offensive outputs to pace Los Angeles in the 26-point beatdown.

Hinson finished with 25 points to go along with 5 three-pointers and Olivari added 20 points on 6 three-pointers of his own.

The Lakers took the lead from Chicago with 6:38 remaining in the first quarter and never looked back as they ended up leading for the entire game after that. An incredible 39-point first quarter allowed Los Angeles to build a 21-point lead early that would not be touched for the rest of the night.

As the final buzzer sounded, the Lakers’ summer league run ended as well. After an 0-2 record in the exhibition California Classic summer games before the Las Vegas Summer League, Los Angeles ended with a 3-2 record in Nevada.

Up next for the Lakers is the start of training camp in the fall as they look to avenge a first-round series loss to the Denver Nuggets. The elder James and Davis will represent the purple and gold for Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, with the first group-stage match starting on July 28th.