Arizona was well represented as Keshad Johnson and Pelle Larsson led the Miami Heat over Carter Bryant and the San Antonio Spurs 82-69 on Saturday afternoon at the Chase Center in San Francisco in the NBA Summer League opener. Larsson scored 18 points, tying with David Jones Garcia of San Antonio for game high.
Larsson made four of his 12 shots from the field, missed all four of his three-point shots, but made 10 out of his 11 free throw attempts and had three rebounds. Johnson scored nine points on 3-7 from the field, 0-2 on three-point attempts and 3-4 from the free throw line with nine rebounds and four blocks for Miami.
Bryant finished with seven points on 3-8 from the field and 1-6 on three-point attempts, with five rebounds, one assist, three turnovers and seven fouls (players can have up to 10 fouls before fouling out in the summer league). Oumar Ballo also is on the Miami summer league team, did not play due to coach’s decision.
San Antonio led 13-12 after one quarter, but Miami took control with a 20-16 advantage in the second quarter to lead 32-29 at halftime. Miami extended its lead with a 24-22 advantage in the third quarter and pulled away with a 26-18 edge in the fourth.
Pelle Larsson STRONG drive pic.twitter.com/6FxjC1jHMI
https://twitter.com/MiamiClip/status/1941602943624511668
Johnson and Larsson impacted the game positively. Johnson finished plus eight and Larsson was plus five. Bryant finished minus nine. Bryant did have some nice moments, including a nice drive. Creating his own offense was a frequent criticism of Bryant in college.
Miami and San Antonio continue play in the California Classic on Sunday. The Los Angeles Lakers play Miami on Sunday at 1:30 PM Mountain Standard Time on NBA TV. Golden State hosts San Antonio on Sunday at 3:30 PM at the Chase Center in San Francisco at 3:30 PM MST on NBATV.