Lakers give good grade to Morrison for effort

The Los Angeles Lakers had two goals in the NBA Summer League: One was to get Adam Morrison comfortable with the triangle offense, and the second was to see if rookie Chinemelu Elonu could play.

The Lakers wrapped up their Las Vegas visit Thursday with a 92-77 loss to Houston at Cox Pavilion, giving them a 3-2 record. Morrison didn't play because of a stomach flu and averaged a team-best 20.6 points in four games. Elonu had his best game of the summer league, with 16 points and eight rebounds.

"Clearly, the focus was on Adam, getting him lots of playing time and seeing how he played," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said. "I thought he played well, and he got a lot out of it."

Elonu, a 6-foot-10-inch center from Texas A&M drafted in the second round with the 59th pick, is expected to be invited back to fall training camp in October.

Whether anyone else does remains to be seen. Kupchak said he liked what he saw from Ben McCauley, a 6-8 forward from North Carolina State who averaged 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds in five games.

"We'll sit down next week and look at all our options and see if we bring anyone back," Kupchak said.

* ROCKETS PERFECT -- The Rockets concluded their summer league run with a 5-0 record.

Houston also went 5-0 in 2006. Since joining the summer league in '06, the Rockets are 17-3.

Chase Budinger, the team's second-round pick from Arizona, was impressive against the Lakers, scoring 25 points and going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.

* IBEKWE UPDATE -- Toronto forward Ekene Ibekwe wound up with six stitches in his chin and sprained both wrists after falling face-first to the floor Wednesday in the Raptors' 74-73 win over Phoenix.

Ibekwe was treated at University Medical Center. X-rays on his jaw and neck were negative, but he was held out of Thursday's game with Milwaukee.

Ibekwe was injured on the final play of the game after blocking a shot to preserve the win. He was carried off the Cox Pavilion court on a stretcher.

* SCORING MARK SET -- Two days after his Golden State teammate Anthony Randolph tied the summer league scoring record with 42 points, Anthony Morrow scored 47 in the Warriors' 104-84 rout of New Orleans at Cox Pavilion.

The previous record was shared by Randolph, Phoenix's Marcus Banks and Denver's Von Wafer, who both scored 42 in 2007.

* TWO BEATS ONE -- The Clippers' Blake Griffin dominated on the stat line, but Memphis' Hasheem Thabeet got the win as Thursday's final game showcased the top two picks in last month's draft.

Thabeet, the Grizzlies' 7-3 center who was drafted No. 2, had as many fouls as points (seven) in Memphis' 85-68 victory over Los Angeles at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Griffin, the No. 1 pick, scored the majority of his 18 points on alley-oop and tomahawk dunks. He also had 15 rebounds.