MANILA – Kihei Clark was held scoreless in his 2023 NBA Summer League debut as Utah Jazz cruised to a 108-96 victory against Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night (Tuesday in the Philippines) at the Cox Pavillion in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Filipino-American point guard logged in six minutes for the Jazz and missed his lone shot attempt but he recorded one rebound, one assist, one turnover and a personal foul.
The 5-foot-10 Clark was inserted at the 4:45 mark of the opening quarter and immediately grabbed a rebound and assisted Johnny Juzang on a three-point basket that pushed the Jazz’ advantage to 18-14.
Clark, however, committed back-to-back miscues with a shooting foul on Timberwolves’ D.J. Carton and a passing turnover before he was subbed out with a minute remaining in the first quarter.
The Ilocano guard did return at the 5:56 mark of the third quarter and missed on a driving floating layup before he was subbed out for good at the 3:33 mark in lieu of Jazz’s rookie Keyonte George.
This was Clark’s first game with Utah after being benched in the previous four matches, including three games in the Salt Lake City leg of the NBA Summer League last week.
Unlike Clark, Kai Sotto remained sidelined for the Orlando Magic as they absorbed a 108-85 loss against the Indiana Pacers at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Despite the lopsided nature of the game from the start, Orlando Summer League head coach Dylan Murphy chose not to deploy the 7-foot-3 Filipino center, Kai Sotto, against the Pacers.
Sotto was among the 10 Magic players labeled as “Did Not Play-Coach Decision,” alongside Kevon Harris, who contributed 21 points in Orlando’s 89-78 defeat to the Detroit Pistons last Sunday.
DJ Wilson took on the starting center position anew for the Magic as he finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, five blocks, and four assists, while, backup center Robert Baker II contributed 10 points, five rebounds, and a block./PN
