A look at the top performers from Day 6 in Las Vegas:
Taurean Prince, Atlanta Hawks
After being held out of two games due to technicalities related to the Jeff Teague-George Hill trade, Prince pounced on his opportunity against Sacramento. The No. 12 overall pick scored 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds, hit all nine of his free throws and was a plus-27, same as teammate Edy Tavares (who had 14 points, nine boards and three steals).
Briante Weber, Miami Heat
In four appearances in the Orlando summer league, Weber — a defensive-minded guard — shot 13-of-35. Through three games in Vegas, he was misfiring at 8-of-23. But that 36.2 percent combined accuracy got a boost when Weber hit seven of his 12 shots for 18 points and added four steals in the Heat’s victory over New Orleans. Teammate Okaro White had 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting in 24 minutes off the bench.
Tyus Jones, Minnesota Timberwolves
In a showdown (at times) of the NCAA’s two most recent Most Outstanding Players, Jones got the better of former Villanova guard Ryan Arcidiacono in the Wolves’ 80-71 victory over San Antonio. Jones scored 15 points to hit his Vegas average but, after amassing 11 assists and eight turnovers in the first three games, the former Dukie passed for nine of the former while gaffing only one of the latter.
Shawn Long and Brandon Paul, Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers rested both Ben Simmons and Christian Wood Wednesday and it didn’t matter — Long and Paul handled the offensive workload in the rout of the D-Leaguers. The pair had scored a total of 21 points through three games but they nearly doubled it, with Paul scoring 20 with six assists (hitting 4-of-6 from the arc) and Long chipping in 21 off the bench with three 3-pointers and two blocks.
Jordan McRae, Cleveland Cavaliers
McRae has a comfort zone in Las Vegas, having played here for three summers. The 6-foot-6 guard, who played 22 NBA games last season with the Suns and the Cavs, was averaging 20.3 points in Cleveland’s first three games. Granted he was shooting 31 percent — which he improved slightly with his 9-of-21 accuracy in beating Boston. A dozen of McRae’s 32 points came from the foul line, where he didn’t miss.
Tibor Pleiss, Utah Jazz
Pleiss, who stands 7-foot-3, weighs 256 pounds and wears a size 18 sneaker, big-footed his way to 20 points, eight rebounds and one block in the Jazz’s victory over Portland. The 26-year-old German, who split time between Utah and D-League Idaho last season, did his damage in just 24 minutes after totaling 16 points in his first 66 in Vegas.
Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter.
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