How much is there to say about about a 18-point loss in a summer league game? From the tip, we knew that the Golden State Warriors would be playing without 2018 NBA Draft pick Jacob Evans, last year’s draft pick Jordan Bell, and 2016 first round draft pick Damian Jones. Sure, there are many of us interested in Kendrick Nunn and Marcus Derrickson, but the outcome of this one was clearly going to be affected by all those absences. Following Summer Dubs will not play tonight: Jacob Evans (rest) Jordan Bell (L shoulder) Jordan Howard (left knee) Damian Jones (rest) — Kevin Danna (@kevo408) July 12, 2018 Ultimately, the Warriors never even led in an 87-69 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. Marcus Derrickson was impressive once again with 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting, including 4-for-7 shooting from 3-point range. Unfortunately, if you take out Derrickson’s shooting performance, the rest of the team shot only 20-for-66 (30.3%) and 2-for-28 from 3-point range — that’s better than shooting 0-for-27, but only by a narrow margin. So given the team’s shooting numbers, it’s probably no surprise that the Hornets led by as many as 23 points en route to their 18-point win. With the loss, the Warriors have been knocked out of contention for the summer league title. However, they will play a final consolation game on Friday at 7 p.m. PST. Click here to check out the full boxscore. For full highlights, check out the YouTube video below.<doc-sep>The Golden State Warriors went 1-2 in the group stage of the Las Vegas Summer League. After myriad tiebreakers were considered, that earned them a match against the 2-1 Charlotte Hornets in the first round of the single-elimination tournament. They square off at 7:30 p.m. PT on NBA TV. With a win, the Warriors would face the winner of tonight’s match-up between the Toronto Raptors and the Denver Nuggets. That game would take place on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. With a loss, the Warriors would be eliminated from the tournament, but would still play on Friday at 7:00 p.m., against the loser of today’s game between the Sacramento Kings and the Cleveland Cavaliers. There’s not too much to preview in Summer League games, which have minimal coaching and preparation, and bizarre rosters that are constantly in flux. Nonetheless, let’s take a look at some of the storylines. Charlotte’s exciting roster The Hornets came to Las Vegas with a pretty interesting roster. At the center of it was this year’s 12th-overall pick, Miles Bridges. I was highly impressed watching Bridges, a 6’7” wing who displayed a tremendous feel for the game and some impressive versatility and athleticism. Keep your eye on him. But he’s not the only intriguing player. Charlotte also has their second-round pick from last year, Dwayne Bacon, who is a highly athletic shooting guard, and Willy Hernangomez, a unique big from the 2015 draft who is starting to show signs of putting it together. The best player on their team, however, is last year’s 11th-overall pick, Malik Monk, a sharpshooting guard who absolutely dominated in Friday’s opener. Unfortunately, Monk suffered a thumb injury and is day-to-day, so it seems unlikely that he’ll play tonight. INJURY UPDATE: After Malik Monk was originally diagnosed with a right thumb fracture, further review has determined that his thumb is not fractured. His status will now be listed as day-to-day #BuzzCity https://t.co/rCJnDa2qZx pic.twitter.com/r365YbDUtJ — Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) July 10, 2018 The fight for the final two-way spot After the opening weekend of Summer League, it looked like the pair of two-way contracts the Warriors have available would go to Kendrick Nunn and Marcus Derrickson. But then the team made a surprising move, and gave one of the two-way contracts to Damion Lee, the soon-to-be brother-in-law of Stephen Curry, and a former Santa Cruz Warrior. And just like that, there’s an exciting battle for the final two-way contract. Nunn has been the most impressive candidate, but since he and Lee are both guards, the Warriors may be intrigued by what Derrickson brings to the table. Either way, the Warriors are probably going to be watching this game closely to see which player stands out.<doc-sep>Down several key players, the Warriors fell 87-69 to the Charlotte Hornets in the first round of the Las Vegas Summer League Tournament on Wednesday night. Marcus Derrickson led the Dubs with 20 points, while J.P. Tokoto filled the stat sheet with seven points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Playing without Jordan Bell, Damian Jones and Jacob Evans, the Warriors were unable to keep up with a Hornets squad that had three different players score at least 17 points. Golden State hung in there and kept the game in reach for the majority of the contest, but never managed to take a lead. TEAM LEADERS GSW PTS: Derrickson (20) REB: Tokoto (10) AST: Magette (8) CHA PTS: Bacon (19) REB: Hernangomez (13) AST: Chealey (6) Box Score | Highlights Despite the loss, Golden State’s Las Vegas Summer League Tournament experience is not over yet. They will play their final Summer League game against the Sacramento Kings on Friday at 7:00 p.m.<doc-sep>What: Charlotte Hornets (2-1) vs. Golden State Warriors (1-2) When: 10:30 p.m. EST How to watch: NBATV, WatchESPN The Hornets and Warriors face off tonight in the opening round of the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League tournament. Charlotte enters as the 13th seed while the Warriors are the 20th. Charlotte kicked off Vegas with two close wins against the Thunder and Heat, but lost by 20 to the Celtics in their final game. The loss cost them a higher seed, but seeding may not matter as much as who does and doesn’t play for the Hornets and their opponents. The coaching staff indicated that the lineups may change after the preliminary round ends. If James Borrego and the staff feel they’ve seen enough from their on-roster players, we may see more of the guys trying to get a training camp invite. That will be the case with Golden State, who will be without Jordan Bell and Damion Jones. Both are part of the Warriors full roster but are out injured. Golden State’s leading scorers so far have been Marcus Derrickson and Kendrick Nunn, who are averaging 12.3 and 11.7 points per game, respectively. Surprisingly, neither have been offered a two-way contract, with one instead going to Steph Curry’s brother-in-law Damion Lee, who was not on the Warrior’s summer league team but played 15 games with the Atlanta Hawks last season. Charlotte’s leaders include Willy Hernangomez (18.3 points, 11.7 rebounds per game), Dwayne Bacon (14.7 points, 4.7 rebounds per game) and Miles Bridges (13.3 points, 7.3 rebounds per game). Devonte Graham leads the team in assists at 6.0 per game. It’s a solid group who have performed well overall in three games. Hopefully the coaching staff continues to give them minutes, as most of us would love to see this team make a run at the Summer League title, even if it’s a bit meaningless. No word as of now whether Malik Monk will play again in Vegas. His thumb is sprained, not fractured, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they kept him out of any remaining games. Win or lose, Charlotte will play another summer league game since every team is guaranteed two more. If they win, they will take on either the 5th seeded Denver Nuggets or the 29th seeded Toronto Raptors. Hopefully the Hornets give us a good showing for those of us who plan to stay up. If there’s one thing I’d love, it would be to prevent the Warriors from winning another title.<doc-sep>
The elimination portion of the Las Vegas Summer League is officially here, and the Golden State Warriors are kicking it off by facing the Charlotte Hornets. The Warriors will have at least one more game after this one, but a loss today eliminates them from the tournament, and makes their next game pointless in the standings. A win means Golden State marches on to the next round, and can still win the Summer League Tournament. It’s not exactly the NBA Finals, but it’s still exciting. What: Las Vegas Summer League Tournament Who: Golden State Warriors (1-2 in Vegas, 4-2 overall) vs Charlotte Hornets (2-1 in Vegas, 2-1 overall) When: 7:30 p.m. PT Where: Thomas and Mack Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada TV: NBA TV Players to watch This game has some fun players and storylines to pay attention to. For the Hornets, keep your eyes on Miles Bridges, a versatile 6’7” wing who was drafted with the 12th-overall pick in this year’s draft. He’s shown some impressive signs so far this summer. For the Warriors, the excitement comes from watching Kendrick Nunn and Marcus Derrickson play. Those two are the frontrunners for Golden State’s final two-way contract, and this game presents a big chance for them to state their case. Names that aren’t playing While there are a lot of exciting names squaring off in this matchup, some of the bigger names are sitting. Jordan Bell, who is dealing with shoulder pain, will not play. Golden State forward Jordan Bell will miss his second consecutive Summer League contest tonight with a sore shoulder, league sources tell ESPN. — Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 11, 2018 Damian Jones, who suffered a mild knee injury earlier in the week, is also unlikely to play. For Charlotte, last year’s lottery pick Malik Monk is unlikely to play, as he is day-to-day with a thumb injury. As always, let’s go dubs!