Juan Blanco, RotoWire
Jake Layman’s game-high 22 points and a spectacular double-double by Jarnell Stokes propelled the 16-seeded Portland Trail Blazers to an 88-77 victory over the 17-seeded Chicago Bulls in Las Vegas Summer League playoff action Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The Bulls (1-3) opened the game hitting on all cylinders, but a dominant second half by the Trail Blazers (2-2) helped Portland seal the first-round victory. Each club had double-digit leads at different points in the contest despite there being four ties and a pair of lead changes. The stat sheet was fairly even in multiple categories, but Portland boasted a clear rebounding advantage, outperforming Chicago on the boards by a 46-31 margin. Ultimately, a 16-6 run by the Blazers in the final 5:23 blew open a 72-71 game and sealed the victory.
Layman supplemented his scoring total with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Stokes, a 2014 second-round selection of the Jazz, posted a 16-point, 17-rebound double-double that also included an assist and a block. First-round pick Caleb Swanigan, taken 26th overall last month, tallied 13 points, nine boards, two assists, a steal and a block. RJ Hunter and Nick Johnson generated matching 11-point efforts, with the former adding two rebounds, two assists and a steal and the latter supplying five boards, two assists and a steal.
Antonio Blakeney paced the Bulls with a game-high 27 points, which he complemented with 11 rebounds and a steal. Bradley Heslip led the bench with 14 points, two assists and a rebound, while Denzel Valentine registered 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a steal.
The Trail Blazers move on to face the top-seeded Toronto Raptors on Thursday in Round 2 of the Summer League playoffs.
