By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Kai Sotto finally made an appearance for the Orlando Magic as they suffered an 88-71 defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas yesterday morning (Philippine time).
The 7-foot-3 Filipino center tallied six points on 3-of-7 shooting, to go with four rebounds, three blocks, one assist, a turnover, and a foul in 13 minutes of action for the Magic, which dropped to a 0-4 slate.
Sotto was subbed in at the start of the second quarter, where he missed on his lone basket attempt from the perimeter, but capped his five-minute stint with a huge block against Trail Blazers’ Shaedon Sharpe.
The Filipino center made his return late in the third quarter and scored on a putback before connecting on a perimeter jumper from 10-feet. He also has two blocks, including one against a driving Rayan Rupert of Portland.
Sotto was brought back for the final two minutes when he missed on an alley-oop dunk from Magic teammate Tyger Cambell before scoring his final basket on a two-foot dunk.
It was the lone stint of the Gilas Pilipinas center in the week-long competition so far after being benched in the first three games by Magic’s Summer League head coach Dylan Murphy.
Meanwhile, Ron Harper, Jr.’s scoring outburst went to waste anew as the Toronto Raptors suffered a 99-94 overtime defeat to the Brooklyn Nets as they ended their campaign with a 0-4 slate.
The Filipino-American guard/forward led all the Raptors’ scorers with 19 points, including 9-of-10 free throw shooting, to go with three assists, two rebounds, one steal, and a block.
Harper, son of former Chicago Bulls legend Ron Harper Sr., converted two free throws at the onset of the extension period to force the final deadlock of the match at 93-all.
Since then, the Nets went on a 6-1 scoring run behind back-to-back inside conversions from Kennedy Chandler followed by a tip-in by teammate Jalen Wilson to secure their third win in four games.
Meanwhile, Filipino-American forward Kamaka Hepa finished with two rebounds and a steal in 10 minutes as the New Orleans Pelicans (3-1) prevailed over the Charlotte Hornets (0-4), 89-83./ASC, WDJ