Blazers take summer title in Vegas
Brandon Williams scored 22 points to lead the Trail Blazers to an 85-77 victory over the Knicks in the NBA summer league championship on Sunday in Las Vegas.
It marked the third time the Blazers played in the championship game since 2017, and its second title since.
The Blazers got 36 points from their reserves, led by Jabari Walker, who finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Trendon Watford finished with 19 points and seven rebounds for the Blazers and was a unanimous choice for game MVP honors.
“They made a run in I think the late third or the fourth,” Watford said. “We stuck together and when we came back in, we turned it up and I’m just proud of all these guys man.
“It was big time, our chemistry came together since day one and I’m just proud of all these guys.”
The Knicks, with coach Tom Thibodeau sitting courtside, had five players finish in double figures, led by Quentin Grimes, who scored 19 points.
Miles McBride scored 17 points, while Jericho Sims contributed with 13 and Feron Hunt and Micah Potter each chipped in with 10 for the Knicks.
The Blazers, who came into the game ranked third during the summer league with 42.8 rebounds per game, outrebounded the Knicks 37-32.
The Jazz agreed to a two-year, $6.25 million guaranteed deal with Italian F Simone Fontecchio, ESPN reported. Fontecchio, 26, is considered the best available international small forward prospect. He averaged 11.9 points for Baskonia of the Spanish ACB last season and has shot 41% on 3-pointers across his last two pro seasons. The Jazz also agreed to hire Nuggets G League coach Jason Terry as an assistant coach. Terry, a 19-year veteran and the 2008-09 sixth man of the year, joins new coach Will Hardy’s staff.
Soccer: Manchester United reached an agreement with Ajax to buy defender Lisandro Martínez for nearly $58 million. The center back from Argentina flew into England this weekend to finalize the move which will see him rejoin manager Erik ten Hag, who moved to United from Ajax. The 24-year-old Martínez still has to pass a medical examination and sign a contract. Ajax said the transfer fee will be $57.9 million with a potential further $10-plus million for the Dutch club in conditional add-ons.
Tennis: Fourth-seeded American Maxime Cressy rallied to win his first career ATP Tour title, beating No. 3 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) at the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, R.I. After knocking out four-time tournament champ John Isner in the semifinals a day earlier, the 25-year-old Cressy overcame a rough start that saw him only get 42% of his first serves in during the opening set. It was his third career ATP final. The tourney — the only played on grass courts in North America — is held in conjunction with induction ceremonies into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Australian great Lleyton Hewitt, 41, part of the class of 2021, was enshrined on a side court Saturday evening. Hewitt was unable attend last year’s ceremony due to travel restrictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were no inductees elected for 2022, the first time in the Hall’s history.