The first night of Las Vegas NBA Summer League action gave former Iowa players a mixed bag, with Bennett Stirtz leading the way for Oklahoma City and Brendan Hausen held out for Memphis.
Oklahoma City dropped its opener, falling 96-84 to the Los Angeles Lakers, while the Grizzlies edged the Chicago Bulls 97-96. Stirtz, Payton Sandfort and Josh Dix were all in the Thunder lineup, and Hausen was on the Memphis roster.
Stirtz turned in the strongest stat line of the group. He scored 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting and went 3 of 8 from beyond the arc. He also chipped in two assists, one steal and one block in 28 minutes.
Sandfort bounced back after a rough showing in the Thunder’s final Salt Lake City Summer League game on Tuesday. He finished with 10 points on 4 of 9 shooting, knocked down 2 of 5 from 3-point range and grabbed seven rebounds in 19 minutes.
Dix followed his 16-point outing on Tuesday with eight points against the Lakers. He shot 3 of 6 overall and 2 of 5 from long distance, while adding two assists and one steal in 24 minutes.
Hausen, who had posted 21 points on Tuesday night, did not play in Memphis’ one-point win over Chicago.
Oklahoma City is back in action Sunday, July 12, at 5 p.m. CT against the Golden State Warriors on Amazon Prime Video.
Memphis will play Monday, July 13, at 6 p.m. CT against the Dallas Mavericks on ESPN.
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