San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
As a precaution, Williamson to sit with bruised knee
LAS VEGAS — Zion Williamson’s Summer League days are over.
The New Orleans Pelicans announced Saturday that the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA draft will not play anymore at the Summer League in Las Vegas because of a bruised left knee. The team stressed the move is precautionary.
“Zion will move forward from this incident without issue,” Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin said. “However, in an abundance of caution, we have made the determination that he will not appear in game action for the remainder of the NBA Summer League.”
Williamson’s presence helped the Summer League sell out its opening day Friday and reach another sellout Saturday — when Williamson was scheduled to play in his second game of the summer against Washington.
There appeared to be a quick impact on the resale markets: Tickets that were going for more than $300 apiece on Friday for the session that included the Pelicans’ game against No. 3 pick RJ Barrett and the New York Knicks were available for under $100 on Saturday.
Late Saturday
The Warriors’ Summer League team played Toronto late Saturday night. For details of the game, go to www.sfchronicle. com/sports
Williamson scored 11 points in nine minutes of his debut game against New York. But he took a kneetoknee hit in the first half and was ruled out at halftime of a game that was eventually shortened after the tremors from a Southern California earthquake were felt.
Williamson is expected to remain with the team in Las Vegas for the duration of the tournament.
“He will continue to take part in training and conditioning with our performance team,” Griffin said.
Games resume: It was business as usual Saturday. Two games were shortened and another was canceled because of Friday’s earthquake. But league officials said all Saturday games would be played as scheduled.
The NBA said a thorough survey was completed “by two separate independent structural engineers” who determined that the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion at UNLV were safe to open for games. Doors opened at 11 a.m., as planned, and fans quickly began filing into seats.
The overhead scoreboard at the Thomas & Mack Center swayed during the quake, which caused major concern about safety. The floor in the Cox arena sustained minor damage that was repaired.
Several players who are expected to play in Las Vegas couldn’t join their new teams because their rights were traded at the June 20 draft in deals that were unofficial until Saturday.
Highlights: Carsen Edwards had a standout debut in Las Vegas, hitting five 3pointers and scoring 20 points as the Celtics pulled away to beat the 76ers 9682. Edwards, the 33rd overall pick in the draft from Purdue, finished 7for17 from the field and added three steals. Rookie Matisse Thybulle led the 76ers with 15 points, hitting four 3pointers. ... Tony Bradley had 19 points and 14 rebounds and the Jazz defeated the Thunder 7868. Oklahoma City got 20 points from Hamidou Diallo . ... Detroit got 18 points from Svi Mykhailiuk and 17 points and 10 assists from Bruce Brown in a 9372 win over Portland. ... Bonzie Colson had 18 points and former St. Mary’s center Jock Landale chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds as Milwaukee knocked off Atlanta 8983 . ... Bruno Caboclo scored 19 points and the Grizzlies opened Summer League play shooting 53% to rout the Pacers 10175. Aaron Holiday hit four 3pointers and scored 24 points for Indiana, which was outscored 3115 in the fourth quarter . ... Firstround pick Mfiondu Kabengele scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Clippers edged the Lakers 9387. Terance Mann, a secondround pick and Kabengele’s Florida State teammate, had five points and nine rebounds for the Clippers.