Adams scores 20; Griz win summer league opener
ORLANDO, Fla. — Secondyear guard Jordan Adams scored 20 points as the Grizzlies opened their Orlando Summer League schedule with an 81-73 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday.
Adams made all 10 of his free throws.
Rookie Andrew Harrison had eight points for Memphis, which outscored the Nets by 12 points in the third quarter before turning back a late Brooklyn rally.
Second-year forward Jarnell Stokes scored 16 points and had seven rebounds for Memphis.
Center Cory Jefferson led the Nets with 13 points. Rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had nine points and three rebounds.
The Grizzlies will play the Charlotte Hornets at 2 p.m. CDT today.
DEVELOPMENTS
Refs wearing headsets: Referees in the NBA summer leagues will be wearing headsets, and replay reviews will be used during games.
The policies were revealed Saturday when Miami and Indiana met in the first summer league game of the season. Referees will stay in touch with earpieces and microphones.
Replays were used to check whether a foul was of the clear-path variety and in another instance to award Heat guard Josh Richardson what became a four-point play late in the third quarter of Miami’s 92-76 win. Unlike in the regular season, the NBA’s replay center in Secaucus, New Jersey, will not be used.
The NBA says the policies will be used in the Orlando, Utah and Las Vegas leagues.
Durant ‘can’t wait to play’: Kevin Durant says next summer can wait. Next season is his only priority at this point.
The Oklahoma City star, limited to 27 games last season because of injuries, was at the NBA summer league games in Orlando on Saturday and said he would be ready for next season. He said he hasn’t thought about the summer of 2016, when he likely will be the biggest player in a free-agent class that will benefit as the league’s salary cap skyrockets.
“I haven’t thought about it,” Durant said of his impending free agency. “I hear it all the time, but I’m really just focusing on rehab. I can’t get there unless I take care of today, so that’s how I try to look at it even though I hear it from every side, thinking past to next summer. I’m not even trying to focus on that. I’m excited about our team, new coaches and just trying to get back right.”
He watched Oklahoma City’s game with new Thunder coach Billy Donovan, who isn’t leading the summer squad but was visiting Saturday and getting to know Durant.
“Coach D’s been working me out this past week, so it’s pretty cool to see your head coach on the floor with you, putting in work with you,” Durant said. “It’s like he’s been on this journey with me since he got in. That’s making us closer.”
Durant had surgery to repair a fracture in his right foot in October, was back on the floor in December and lasted only nine games before having to sit again with a sprained ankle.
Durant missed more time in late January and early February, then was shut down for the rest of the season in mid-February