Heat takes final game of the day
Former Duke forward Shavlik Randolph scored 18 points as Miami rolled to a 78-58 victory over Milwaukee in the final game of Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in the NBA Vegas Summer League.
Kenny Hasbrouck scored 14 points for the Heat.
Micah Downs, a Gonzaga alum, went 5 of 7 from 3-point range and scored a game-high 21 points in the loss.
Larry Sanders added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Bucks.
Over at Cox Pavilion, Wayne Ellington scored 25 points to help Minnesota hold on for a 66-65 win over Memphis.
Deon Thompson, like Ellington a former North Carolina Tar Heel, had 12 points and 12 rebounds in the win.
Sam Young continued his hot scoring, leading the Grizzlies with 25 points.
Big run
Miami actually trailed by two points late in the second quarter, but went on a huge run to take control of the game.
The Heat outscored Milwaukee 36-7 during a rally that stretched all the way to the fourth quarter.
Milwaukee couldn’t find any answers and the lead just continued to grow.
Take it easy
Late in the fourth quarter, Milwaukee’s Larry Sanders was rejected viciously by Jarvis Varnado.
The block drew a big reaction from the sparse crowd of 100 or so fans in the Thomas & Mack Center.
Sanders actually managed to get the ball back several seconds later under the basket all by himself.
He went up for the easy dunk, then turned around to stare at Varnado.
Keep in mind, his team was down by more than 20 points at the time.
Dude, you just got humiliated by someone and then got a lucky break for an easy dunk. You have zero business staring the guy down at that point.
It was so obviously ridiculous that a group of fans openly laughed and called him a “dummy.”
Your reaction has to be pretty bad to called names and mocked by the crowd after a dunk.
Time to complain
Listen, I have avoiding writing this because I don’t want to sound like a typical whining media member.
But at the end of the eighth day of being out here at the summer league, it’s time to point this out.
The media room here is fully stocked with soda and water, which is a very nice touch.
The only problem is the huge bin of popcorn next to it.
That’s all there is in the room.
Some media people are here from morning until well into the night to cover all these games.
There really needs to be some option other than the hot dogs and nachos available at the concession stand. That’s fine for one day and all, but can you imagine eating concession stand nachos and hot dogs for lunch and dinner 10 straight days.
It would be an interesting science experiment, but each day would probably take about a year and a half off your life.
Okay, I’m done whining. Well, at least until tomorrow night at this time when hunger starts to set in again.
Miami active off the court
While the Heat summer league team was busy rolling to an easy win, the organization’s front office was even busier trying to fill out the regular season roster.
Dexter Pittman, a second-round pick from Texas, was signed to a guaranteed deal with the team.
Pittman is here and played earlier in the week, but has missed the last two games with an injured foot.
The team also re-signed former UNLV center Joel Anthony to a 5-year, $18-million deal.
Anthony was a backup for the Rebels, but has blossomed into a solid role player in the NBA.
He should be the perfect complement to Miami’s newly-formed trio of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.
Anthony will play great defense and grab rebounds. He doesn’t need the ball on the offensive end to be happy.
Good thing. There won’t be a whole lot of opportunities for anyone else to score on that team.
On deck
The Heat will next take on a team that may carry some animosity into the game.
Miami will play Cleveland tomorrow here in the summer league.
While these games count for very little, you just know Cavs owner Dan Gilbert wants to beat the Heat at anything he can.
The Cavaliers players should probably do their best to deliver the boss a win.
If they don’t, they don’t want to see the letter he writes them.