MANILA – Kai Sotto had a decent showing in Orlando Magic’s 88-71 defeat to Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Summer League on Thursday night (Friday, Manila time) at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
The 7-foot-3 Filipino center delivered six points, on 3-of-7 shooting, to go with four rebounds, three blocks, one assist, a turnover and a foul in 13 minutes of action as the Magic absorbed its fourth defeat in as many games.
Sotto was subbed in at the start of the second quarter, where he missed on his lone basket attempt from the perimeter but capped his five-minute stint with a huge block against the Trail Blazers’ Shaedon Sharpe.
The Filipino center made his return late in the third quarter and scored on a putback before connecting on a perimeter jumper from 10-feet. He also has two blocks, including one against a driving Rayan Rupert of Portland.
Sotto plunged back to action for the final two minutes where he missed on an alley-oop dunk from Magic teammate Tyger Cambell before scoring his final basket on a two-foot dunk.
It was the lone stint of the Gilas Pilipinas center in the week-long competition after being benched in the first three games by Magic’s Summer League head coach Dylan Murphy.
Meanwhile, Ron Harper Jr.’s scoring outburst went to waste anew as Toronto Raptors suffered a 99-94 overtime defeat to Brooklyn Nets as they end their campaign with 0-4 slate.
The Filipino-American guard/forward led all the Raptors’ scorers with 19 points, including 9-of-10 free throw shooting, to go with three assists, two rebounds, one steal and a block.
Harper, son of former Chicago Bulls legend Ron Harper Sr., converted two free throws at the onset of the extension period to force the final deadlock of the match at 93-all.
Since then, the Nets went on a 6-1 scoring run behind back-to-back inside conversions from Kennedy Chandler followed by a tip-in by teammate Jalen Wilson to secure their third win in four games.
Meanwhile, Fil-Am forward Kamaka Hepa recorded two rebounds and a steal as New Orleans Pelicans (3-1) scored an 89-83 victory over Charlotte Hornets (0-4)./PN
