By ADRIAN STEWART CO 

Kai Sotto remained sidelined on the Orlando Magic bench as they absorbed a 108-85 loss against the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada yesterday morning (Philippine time).

Despite the lopsided nature of the game from the start, Orlando Summer League head coach Dylan Murphy chose not to deploy the 7-foot-3 Filipino center, Kai Sotto, against the Pacers.

Sotto was among the 10 Magic players labeled as “Did Not Play-Coach Decision,” alongside Kevon Harris, who contributed 21 points in Orlando’s 89-78 defeat to the Detroit Pistons last Sunday, July 9.

Once again, DJ Wilson took on the starting center position for the Magic, recording 10 points, eight rebounds, five blocks, and four assists. 

Meanwhile, backup center Robert Baker II contributed 10 points, five rebounds and a block.

Andrew Nembhard led the scoring for the Pacers with 21 points, accompanied by Bennedict Mathurin, who added 17 points. Jabari Walker also made a contribution with six points as the Pacers secured their second consecutive victory.

Caleb Houstan led the scoring for the Magic with 18 points, but to the surprise of many, he was benched for the entire fourth quarter. Elijah Hughes contributed 14 points, while rookie Jett Howard added 10 points as the Magic dropped to a 0-2 record.

The Gilas Pilipinas center’s next chance to take the court for the Magic will be on Thursday morning, July 13, against the New York Knicks.

Meanwhile, Filipino-American guard Kihei Clark finally made his Summer League debut as the Utah Jazz scored a 108-96 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Cox Pavillion.

The 5-foot-10 Clark logged six minutes for the Jazz but ended up scoreless to go with one rebound, one assist, one turnover, and one personal foul.

This was Clark’s first game with Utah after being benched in the previous four matches, including three games in the Salt Lake City Summer League last week./ASC, WDJ