By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The Orlando Magic did not give a try on Kai Sotto as they suffered an 89-78 defeat to the Detroit Pistons in the 2023 NBA Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas yesterday (Philippine time).

The 7-foot-3 Sotto, who was hyped by the Magic on their social media pages the whole week, did not leave the Orlando bench against Detroit despite the Filipino cager being the tallest player on the roster.

The Magic instead went with the much smaller bigs Ron Baker II, who registered eight points and two rebounds, and former Gilas Pilipinas naturalization prospect DJ Wilson, who ended with four points and three rebounds.

Jalen Duren led the way for the Pistons with 17 points and eight rebounds, while one-time NBA champion James Wiseman contributed double-double 16 points and 12 rebounds in the victory.

Kevon Harris top-scored for the Magic with 21 points, Anthony Black chipped in 17 markers, while Caleb Houstan contributed 12 markers in the defeat.

Sotto’s next opportunity to play will be on Tuesday morning, July 11 (Philippine time), against Indiana Pacers in a game that will be televised live on NBA TV Philippines.

Meanwhile, Ron Harper, Jr.’s decent showing of 10 points, six rebounds, four assists, one steal, and a block was not enough as the Toronto Raptors suffered an 83-74 defeat to the Chicago Bulls.

The Filipino-American forward immediately made his mark with five early points in the first quarter before he slowed down with just two in the second frame and a triple in the final quarter.

Harper, son of former Chicago Bulls legend Ron Harper Sr., is set to return for his sophomore season with the Raptors after being extended a two-way qualifying offer recently.

Meanwhile, Filipino-American big man Kamaka Hepa failed to make an impact after not being inserted by the New Orleans Pelicans in their 102-88 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves./ASC, WDJ