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The Spurs won their first Las Vegas game last night, rushing out to a huge lead in the first half and holding on for a six point win as the shooting and defense lagged a bit in the second half and the Trail Blazers caught fire from beyond the arc. It was a typical Summer League game, full of exciting plays punctuated with comically terrible basketball.
Stephon Castle had a solid Las Vegas debut. His shot was a little inconsistent, but his handle and distribution skills looked elite against Summer League competition. Sidy Cissoko also had a good game in his second year in Sin City, making some spectacular dunks and playing good defense, especially in the first half as the Spurs looked like they were going to run away with the game. Nathan Mensah had his best game of Summer League, scoring 12 and making some impressive defensive stops on the much taller Donovan Clingan.
In the California Classic, Coach Trevino decided to rest Cissoko and Castle on a back-to-back, and with the hard fall that Castle took last night, they might be considering doing the same thing tonight against the summer Hawks. I wouldn’t be surprised if Castle is sent home from summer league before the end of Las Vegas Summer League, but the Spurs are probably going to keep him around at least until Tuesday night’s game against the Pelicans to get some more run and work on shooting in game situations.
The game flow tonight will be a reverse of what happened last night, as the Spurs fall behind in the first half and outscore their opponent in the second half.
One final word:
Go Spurs GOOOOOO!!
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