On a 108 degree day in the Las Vegas desert the Cleveland Cavaliers faced off against the Boston Celtics inside Thomas & Mack Arena in their first seeded tournament game of this year’s Samsung NBA Summer League.
The Cavs came out a bit sloppy in the opening minutes of play. Boston went on an early 8-0 run and held a 10-2 lead. Cleveland’s poor shooting continued until Kay Felder’s and-one at the six minute mark seemed to re-energize the troops.
Felder’s bucket sparked an 8-1 run by the Cavs, which led them to their first lead at the two minute mark. However, Boston battled back and held a three point advantage after the first quarter of play (23-20).
The Good Guys just couldn’t find their rhythm as the opening minutes of the second quarter ticked away. Boston fought their way to a nine point lead, but Kenny Gabriel quickly answered with a three-pointer to stop the Cleveland scoring drought.
The Cavs then went on a 15-4 run to take the lead at the half-time horn (45-43), led by Jordan McRae’s 20 first-half points and nine of nine mark from the free-throw line.
After the break, the Cavs slipped into another scoring slump. The Celtics fought their way to a three point lead at the six minute mark of the third, but the Cavs quickly recovered.
McRae knocked down a three-pointer in the closing minutes of the third to give the Cavs a seven point lead. After three quarters of play, Cleveland was starting to pull away (72-65).
The opening minutes of the final quarter of play saw Boston fighting their way back to a one point lead. The war raged on into the closing minutes of the game.
Both sides made runs, resulting in 16 lead changes. When the smoke cleared, Boston’s 18 turnovers seemed to be their downfall. Led by a 13-point quarter from Felder, Cleveland held on to win their first match-up of this year’s summer league tournament play (98-94).
McRae finished with another solid performance, turning in 32 points (12/12 from the free-throw line), three rebounds, two assists, and one block in 33 minutes. He has scored 93 points in four games this summer.
Cavaliers 2nd-round draft pick, Felder, also had a nice game. Felder put up 22 points, three assists, one rebound, and one block in 31 minutes of play.
The Cavaliers will now advance to face the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday night at 10:30 PM ET.
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