Magic White downed in sudden-death OT of summer league title game
The Orlando Magic White squad lost to the Memphis Grizzlies 75-73 in sudden death double overtime of the Orlando Summer League championship game Friday afternoon.
Russ Smith, who hit a game-winner against the Magic Blue squad earlier in the week, scored on a jumper with 8:37 remaining to give the Grizzlies the victory.
"The play was to get the ball to Jordan [Adams] and run through Jarnell [Stokes] on a misdirection," Smith said. "I came off and I guess they blitzed it, which stopped the first action. So I just ran out to the ball because I knew I was capable of breaking my man down and trying to create a shot for somebody.
"As I got the ball, I wouldn't say I had a mismatch but I probably had the best opportunity to score. I just made a play, a little hesitation, I got a step ahead of him and instead of getting to the rim -- because they were blocking my shot all night -- I decided to use a left hand floater and it worked out for me."
Smith was also responsible for two made free throws that sent the game into overtime. He ended with a team-high 15 points and nine assists. Smith went 5 of 14 from the floor including 2 of 5 from 3-point range.
The Magic were the only franchise to use split squads in the tournament, with the White squad featuring unsigned free agents and just one player -- Chris Singleton -- with marginal NBA experience.
But the team made a surprise 4-0 start and earned 32 standings points to earn a championship game appearance. Magic assistant Bill Peterson, who coached the White squad, praised his team's effort throughout the tournament.
"The effort, passion and energy we played with all week was really good," Peterson said. "I'm really proud and pleased. I told everyone that I wished my teams in other places would scrap and fight [like them]. We were down 20-6 early in the game and everyone quit on us. We focused on getting the lead.
"So it showed they had the resiliency to come back and fight. They were like that all week and had great passion, great energy and used their God given gifts to the best of their abilities."
Keith Benson and Singleton tied for a team-best 16 points. Benson also notched 12 rebounds and went 5 of 15 on shot attempts. Singleton recorded four rebounds and four steals while shooting 5 of 9 from the field, including 2 of 3 on 3-pointers.
Later in the day, the Magic Blue squad defeated the Indiana Pacers 98-74 in their final game of the summer league.
Jordan Sibert led Orlando with a team-high 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting including 5 of 7 from 3-point range. The Magic had several others score in double figures including Jabril Trawick (16), Tyler Harvey (12), Nnanna Egwu (11) and Maurice Walker (10).
Egwu also recorded a team-best 11 rebounds and went 4 of 4 from the floor including 4 of 7 on 3-point attempts.
