Summer League: Sixers lose despite hot McRae

Share

The Sixers' bid to claim both NBA summer league titles came to an end on Thursday night with a 79-68 loss to the Chicago Bulls in Las Vegas.

The loss took place in the second round of the Las Vegas Summer League's tournament portion and dropped the Sixers' record in Sin City to 2-3. The Sixers will finish their stay in Vegas with a consolation game at 10:30 p.m. on Friday against the D-League Select team.

Jordan McRae did his best to deliver the Sixers a win. The second-round pick scored a game-high 25 points on 7 of 8 shooting. McRae was also 10 of 10 at the foul line. His lone miss of the night came on a three-pointer with 41.9 seconds left in the game.

Nerlens Noel didn't fare as well in his return to the lineup. After sitting out the Sixers' previous two games, Noel came back to score 14 points against the Bulls but they came on 13 shots. He did add five rebounds and two assists as he battled a cold and some hard collisions in the loss.

K.J. McDaniels chipped in with 11 points to round out the Sixers who scored in double figures.

The top-seeded Bulls were led by guard Tony Snell and forward Cameron Bairstow, who scored 18 points apiece to run their record to 4-0.

The No. 11 overall pick in last month's NBA draft, Doug McDermott, had an uncharacteristically poor shooting night. McDermott scored 11 points on just 3 of 10 shooting, including 1 of 6 from three-point range. He did grab five boards and block two shots.

As they've done throughout the Las Vegas Summer League, the Sixers fell behind early again on Thursday. They trailed the Bulls by as many as 14 points during the first half before rallying to take a lead in the second quarter behind 14 points in the frame from McRae.

However, with the game tied at 52 and 3:17 remaining in the third, the Bulls went on a 9-0 run to finish the quarter and regain control on their way to victory.

Contact Us