Player of the Day honors were stolen early by the Golden State Warriors' first round pick Marco Belinelli. The Italian sensation scored 24 points in the first half alone en route to 37 in the Warriors' hard-fought 110-102 victory over the New Orleans Hornets. Shooting 10-for-14, Belinelli hit from everywhere on the court. He wowed the crowd with an array of off-balance, on-the-move jumpers, which somehow always looked in control coming from his fingers. Kelenna Azubuike added 29 for Golden State, displaying a streak of aggression that should serve him well during the Summer League. Hornets' center Hilton Armstrong looked impressive while scoring 17, but point guard Anthony Roberson stole the show with 22 points.
The Cleveland Cavaliers pasted the San Antonio Spurs 67-53 as a back-and-forth affair turned into a route after the first period. Darius Rice was the star of the game with 19 points but the bigger news was that Cleveland's most recognizable player, Daniel Gibson, had to leave the game in the second period after receiving a nasty gash above his eye while attempting to block a shot. Gibson was fine following the stitches.
The Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers played the most exciting game of the event so far, a 91-89 victory by the Pistons. Louis Williams of the 76ers scored 32 points, including a perfect 17-for-17 from the foul line. But the game belonged to a pair of Pistons draft picks. Down two in the closing seconds of regulation Rodney Stuckey sank a clutch pair of free throws to tie the game at 85. Williams could not hit a buzzer-beater to clinch the victory for his team. After a tense battle through overtime the Pistons again found themselves down, this time with the ball in their hands for the last possession. Arron Afflalo drove the lane and then dished to an open Sammy Mejia behind the three point line. The crowd came to its feet as the ball went through the twine with only four-tenths of a second remaining. Jason Maxiell led the Pistons with 22 points in the game.
The final game of the day saw the Sacramento Kings take on Yi Jianlian and the Chinese National Team. Having seen Yi's impressive performance against the Memphis Grizzlies Friday night the Kings were ready for him. Sacramento throttled the Chinese big man into a 2-for-14 performance while their own Spencer Hawes scored 19 in the post. With their superstar in chains the team from China never had a chance and ended up losing 73-47.
The recurring theme of the second day of the NBA Summer League was aggressiveness. Every game in this venue is ripe to be taken over by someone. Certain players - today Belinelli, Rice, Azubuike, and Hawes - have the heart and talent to dominate. Others fade under the spotlight, playing timidly and merging with the background. The people who come to the fore are not always the stars or even the players you've heard of... and that's what makes the games worth watching.
