Garza impressive as Pistons hold off Magic 79-78

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Luka Garza had 21 points and 15 rebounds, and the Detroit Pistons held on to beat the Orlando Magic 79-78 on Monday night in the NBA Summer League.

Top draft pick Cade Cunningham did not play for Detroit, and neither did Orlando’s Jalen Suggs, the No. 5 overall pick.

Garza, the college player of the year from Iowa who was drafted near the end of the second round, had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the first half.

The Pistons led by three in the final seconds. Tahjere McCall and Iggy Brazdeikis missed 3-pointers for the Magic, and Yante Maten’s tip-in was inconsequential.

Hassani Gravett led Orlando with 19 points.

Garza went 8 of 16 from the field and made two 3-pointers. Saben Lee had 19 points and eight assists for Detroit.

“We communicate a lot outside the court. We talk about different actions — if the defense does this, what we should do. I think that definitely helps a lot speeding up that chemistry process,” Lee said of himself and Garza. “He’s a very skilled big. He’s very smart, can pick-and-pop.”

KNICKS 104, HAWKS 85

Quentin Grimes scored 26 points and made six of New York’s 21 3-pointers.

Grimes, taken with the 25th pick in this year’s draft, went 10 of 17 from the field. Miles McBride added 19 points and Immanuel Quickley scored 14 for the Knicks.

Quickley also had seven assists and six rebounds.

Javin DeLaurier led Atlanta with 18 points. The rookie from Duke went 7 of 9 from the field.

CAVALIERS 88, SUNS 85

Lamar Stevens made a layup with 24 seconds remaining to put Cleveland ahead for good.

That basket broke an 85-all tie, and Ty-Shon Alexander missed a 3-pointer for Phoenix. Stevens finished with 12 points.

Tre Scott led the Cavaliers with 16 points, and Jaylen Hands and Matt Ryan scored 15 apiece.

Kyle Alexander had 18 points with 14 rebounds for Phoenix. Nine of his rebounds were at the offensive end. The Suns had a 25-12 edge in second-chance points.

THUNDER 116, SPURS 91

Rob Edwards scored 23 points and Josh Hall added 17 to help Oklahoma City win in a rout.

The Thunder led 59-37 at halftime and shot 57.5% from the field for the game. Joe Wieskamp was one of three San Antonio players with 12 points.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl scored 15 points and Emmitt Williams added 14 for the Thunder. Theo Maledon had 11 points and seven assists.

NUGGETS 94, BUCKS 87

First-round draft pick Nah’Shon Hyland scored eight of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to help Denver secure the win.

Milwaukee’s D’Mitrik Trice led all scorers with 24, and Sandro Mamukelashvili added 20. But no other Bucks players were in double figures, and Milwaukee was outscored 48-30 in the paint and 22-5 in fast-break points.

The Bucks turned the ball over 27 times.

PACERS 74, WIZARDS 65

Cassius Stanley had 19 points and seven rebounds for Indiana, which led by as many as 25 points.

Keifer Sykes added 12 points for the Pacers, who won despite shooting 37.5% from the field. Washington was even worse at 34.2%. Isaiah Todd was the only Wizards player in double figures with 11 points.

Washington missed its first 11 attempts from 3-point range and finished 7 of 34.

First-round draft pick Isaiah Jackson had 11 points and seven blocks for Indiana. Corey Kispert, taken by Washington with the 15th pick, scored only three points on 1-of-7 shooting.

GRIZZLIES 104, CLIPPERS 95

Shaq Buchanan scored 21 points, Sam Merrill added 20 and Memphis built a 26-point lead before holding off Los Angeles.

Memphis led by 21 points at halftime after shooting 56.1% — despite going 2 for 12 from 3-point range. Olivier Sarr led the way with 14 points and seven rebounds, and Buchanan added 13 points. The Clippers were 14 for 46 from the field (30.4%) in the first half.

Sarr finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Brandon Boston Jr. scored 13 of his 20 points in the first half for the Clippers. Amir Coffey added 16 points and Jason Preston 15.

BULLS 99, HORNETS 74

Ayo Dosunmu scored 19 points to lead five Chicago starters in double figures, and the Bulls kept Charlotte winless.

Tyler Bey, Jerome Robinson and Jaylen Adams each added 13 points for the Bulls, and Marko Simonovic scored 10. Bey also grabbed 11 rebounds, and Adams and Robinson each had five assists.

Robinson scored all of his points in the first half and Adams added 11 as Chicago led 45-28 after holding Charlotte to 25% shooting.

Kai Jones paced Charlotte with 16 points, and Scottie Lewis and JT Thor each had 15.

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