By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Kai Sotto’s final stint with the Orlando Magic in the NBA Summer League yesterday (Philippine time) was cut short after suffering a lower back injury in the first half.

The 7-foot-3 Filipino center exited the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas with still three minutes in the second quarter and never returned to the Magic bench for the second half.

The Magic went on to suffer a 94-77 defeat to the Boston Celtics as they capped off their week-long stint in the tournament with their fifth defeat in as many matches.

Sotto ended his final game scoreless, missing all of his three field goal attempts, but had two rebounds, one assist and one block to go with two turnovers and two personal fouls in eight minutes.

The abrupt stint was a dampener for the Gilas Pilipinas big man as he was supposed to play heavy minutes after Magic head coach Dylan Murphy decided to rest starting center DJ Wilson for the game.

Sotto was subbed in for Robert Baker II at the 3:44 mark of the first quarter and immediately committed a turnover, but bounced back with two rebounds and a block on a layup by Boston’s Jay Scrubb.

However, the Filipino big man did not have an opportunity to score from close range due to the tight defense of the Celtics as he was forced to have two missed three-point attempts.

Sotto came from an impressive game of six points, four rebounds, three blocks, and an assist in 13 minutes during the Magic’s 88-71 defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers last Thursday, July 13.

With his NBA Summer League stint now finished, Sotto will shift his focus to the Gilas Pilipinas in the 2023 FIBA World Cup unless he gets a training camp invite from the Magic or other NBA teams./ASC, WDJ