Heat top Grizz in OT to win summer league title
LAS VEGAS — Pelle Larsson broke a tie by scoring from the lane in overtime to give Miami a 120-118 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday and hand the Heat their first NBA summer league championship.
“Coach [Dan Bisaccio] drew up a great play we’ve run in practice a bunch of times,” Larsson said. “They did a good job guarding it. We have shooters everywhere and they want to help, and I just made it.”
This was the highest-scoring game in championship history and just the second one to go into overtime. The Los Angeles Lakers‘ 110-98 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in 2017 had the previous record for total points in the summer league final. Just the year before, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 84-82 in the only other final to reach OT.
Under summer league overtime rules, both teams played to a target score rather than under a clock. That score was set at 120 points.
Game MVP Josh Christopher led the Heat (6-0) with 24 points, Kel’el Ware had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Alondes Williams scored 21 points, Cole Swider had 19 points and Larsson finished with 16 points.
Jake LaRavia led the Grizzlies (5-1) with 32 points, Scotty Pippen Jr. had 29 points and 11 assists and GG Jackson scored 28 points.
Each team traded 3-pointers to force the extra session. Swider put the Heat up 113-110 with 19.6 seconds left and Jackson matched him with 10.5 seconds remaining. Miami had a chance to win in regulation, but Williams was called for a charge with 4.2 seconds left. Then Pippen missed a 3-pointer with a second to go.
“[The Grizzlies] made it tough for us,” Bisaccio said. “That just speaks volumes to this team. Their willingness to fight through the adversity showed real grit, toughness and of course that competitive will.”
Brooklyn Nets forward Jalen Wilson was named the summer league MVP earlier in the day. He averaged 21.8 points and 4.6 rebounds, making 47.3% of his field goals and 55% of 3-pointers.
The summer league first team included Jackson and Pippen of the Grizzlies, Ware of the Heat, Jordan Miller of the Los Angeles Clippers and Reed Sheppard of the Houston Rockets. Though he was named event MVP, Wilson was chosen for the second team along with Bub Carrington of the Washington Wizards, Donovan Clingan of the Portland Trail Blazers, Jaime Jaquez Jr. of the Heat and Jarace Walker of the Indiana Pacers.
