Jackson, Bender shine for Summer Suns in win over Jazz

Josh Jackson and Dragan Bender each had big games for the Phoenix Suns in their win over the Utah Jazz in Las Vegas.

Jul 12, 2017, 7:21 PM Updated: Jul 13, 2017, 11:30 am

(AP Photos)

The Phoenix Suns were three games through their trip in Las Vegas for the NBA’s Summer League and didn’t have a signature individual performance.

The Suns left COX Pavillion Wednesday, however, with two of them after Dragan Bender and Josh Jackson shined in the team’s 97-81 win over the Utah Jazz.

For Jackson, his well-noted reputation as a pest of a player for the opposition to deal with showed against Utah.

Josh with the BLOCK!
Quese with the FINISH! #SummerSuns pic.twitter.com/9qCst7p2TX

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) July 13, 2017

Jackson’s block and long staredown will be the defining play of the week.

99 Problems… #SummerSuns pic.twitter.com/RjuYsTMhSJ

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) July 13, 2017

The No. 4 overall pick was doing all this while showing off his impressive handle and finishing ability. He finished with a game-high 21 points and was everywhere on the court, as evidenced by his game-high 15 rebounds.

As for the Croatian, he had the game many wanted to see out of him as a former top-5 pick returning for his second year of Summer League play.

He scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half, converting on his jumpers and playing with confidence.

Dragan Bender out of the High Post. He showed this in Croatia, it is starting to translate to the NBA level. Needs to be more aggressive. pic.twitter.com/0RLl8jxVsR

— Suns Film Room (@SunsFilm) July 13, 2017

Bender also showcased his passing ability.

SL is bad basketball and Bender won’t get to show his passing ability much. But this is a tough pass to make in transition. pic.twitter.com/5I2khYjIyI

— Suns Film Room (@SunsFilm) July 13, 2017

The 19-year-old also had five rebounds, two assists and a block to go with his highest scoring game of the 2017 Summer League.

There were solid supplemental performances as well. Mike James also had his best game thus far, scoring 18 points on 11 shots and dishing out seven assists. Davon Reed continued to look good, adding 15 points and grabbing five rebounds off the bench.

Phoenix moves on in the tournament to play the Memphis Grizzlies Thursday at 5 p.m.

Kellan Olson Suns reporter and co-host of Arizona Sports at Night

Kellan Olson is ArizonaSports.com's beat writer for the Phoenix Suns and a co-host of the Empire of the Suns podcast, as well as the intermittent night show Arizona Sports at Night. You'll also catch him covering other teams and frequently filling in… Read more

Comments

esc 9 years ago

Solid take and I agree. He did have a nice game yesterday from what I was reading. I like it. 20 pts, 7 rebs and 5 ast. Exactly what I wanted to see from him.

JT3 9 years ago

Well then we pretty much see him in the same way. I do think his length and skill set along with his bb IQ, all give him an edge over Chriss. Only his mentality, and lack of direction, lead to him just feeling lost too many times out there and it holds him back from building on his game from last season.

Plus let's keep his age in mind, coming into the NBA last year, he was the same age as graduating Seniors from High School, Playing in a foreign Country with grown men. And much to Bender's credit, didn't look intimidated out there with them. To me he just looked like he wanted to fit in on a new team, without any clear role in it to guide him. So he floated around looking for his place, and not shockingly, played without of any sort of rhythm, and ended up being benched before he ever had a chance to get into one. Look at Booker even, he sometimes needed half a game before working his way into a solid rhythm.

When you know you got like 5 minutes but feel like you're too new or too young to just take every shot that comes your way, it must've been tough to decide what to do in your 5 whole minutes per game, you know.

Edit: Finally made it through the censors. You can't use the word A _sses , as in when you size up a player.. whew boy this site..

esc 9 years ago

His last game, I saw what I was hoping for from Bender. Solid all around game and seeing opportunities to score and make plays.

Jackson, Bender shine for Summer Suns in win over Jazz

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