The Portland Trail Blazers closed out their 2016 NBA Summer League campaign with a 80-75 win over the Boston Celtics Friday afternoon at the COX Pavilion in Las Vegas. The victory ended the Blazers’ record for the week at 2-3.
Boston born and raised Pat Connaughton led Portland with 21 points against his hometown team. Summer League invitee Pierre Jackson netted 19 points and eight assists in the team’s starting point guard role following Shabazz Napier’s should injury earlier in the week. Rookie Jake Layman finished the game with eight points and seven rebounds in the win. Forward Noah Vonleh was rested for Friday’s contest after recording in double-doubles in three of the previous four games.
With four New England natives on the Blazers’ Summer League roster, a bit of pride was on the line Friday.
“I told Coach [Terry] Stotts, ‘I can’t lose to the Celtics, man,'” Connaughton said. “That’s my hometown; we’ve got four Boston guys on this team. Unfortunately, two of them weren’t able to play, but I can’t allow those two to take the rap for a loss when I have something to do about it.”
Wins and losses aside, Blazers Summer League head coach Dale Osbourne was pleased with his team’s growth over Portland’s five games in Las Vegas.
“We lost three games, and this a good way to end it with a win, ” said Osbourne. “We want our guys to get better [in Summer League]… Overall we like what we’ve seen so far.”
Echoed Connaughton: “Obviously, we would’ve liked to have a better record, but at the end of the day it’s a learning experience and it’s a growth experience.”
In all, Connaughton led the Blazers with 14.4 points over the five-game schedule. Vonleh finished Summer League with averages of 12 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, while the rookie Layman ended his summer with an average of eight points per game.
