NBA Las Vegas Summer League: Suns and Warriors forge battle for the title

The Phoenix Suns and the Golden State Warriors will face off on Monday (Tuesday, PHL time) for the 2013 Las Vegas Summer League championship, after dispatching the Miami Heat and the Charlotte Bobcats, respectively, on Sunday (Monday, PHL time) at the Thomas and Mack Center.



In the first semifinals match, the Phoenix Suns (third seed) got a clutch basket by Markieff Morris and DJ Kennedy missed a potential game-winner, edging the Miami Heat (18th seed) 91-89.

A PJ Tucker reverse gave the Suns a 20-point advantage, 60-40, 5:51 left in the third quarter, but the Heat reeled off a 23-8 run to stay within five points heading into the final canto, 68-63.

Three-pointers by the Suns rebuilt their double-digit lead early, 76-65, 8:31 remaining in the game, but 14 unanswered points by the Heat put them on top, 86-83, 3:23 left to play.

PJ Tucker put the Suns ahead twice late, first on a pair of free throws, 87-86, and then via a jumper off a Dionte Christmas pass, 89-87, but Tony Taylor knotted things for the fifth time in the match, under a minute to play.

Christmas missed on the Suns' next possession, but they got the ball back following a loose ball foul by DJ Kennedy. Off a timeout, Morris nailed a go-ahead layup, and Kennedy was unable to redeem himself as his three-pointer failed to connect at the buzzer.

Tucker led the Suns with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while Marcus Morris, Markieff's twin, added 17 markers off the bench. Marcus, Dionte Chrismas, and Arinze Onuaku chimed in with 10 apiece.

2013 second-round pick James Ennis had a game-high 25 markers for the Heat, hitting 4-of-8 triples and adding nine rebounds. James Nunnally added 24 points off the bench, canning 5-of-6 three-pointers.



The second semifinals game was of the opposite style, as the Golden State Warriors (first seed) leaned on their defense to best the Charlotte Bobcats (fifth seed), 75-67.  

The Warriors were up comfortably at the break, 46-34, but the Bobcats held their foes to just two field goals until the 1:28 mark of the third, getting within five with a quarter to go, 58-53.

Golden State doubled their lead early in the fourth with a 5-0 blast, but after back-to-back Charlotte scores, Kent Bazemore and the rest of the Warriors had enough in the tank to keep the Bobcats at arm's length, leading by 11 with a minute and change to go.

Cameron Jones scored 16 points on a 50 percent shooting clip to lead the Warriors, while rotation players from their Western Conference semifinals run Draymond Green (15 points, 12 rebounds, four steals) and Kent Bazemore (13 points, three rebounds, four assists) also had big impacts.

The Bobcats on the other hand benched most of their NBA draft talent, with Bismack Biyombo, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Cody Zeller all sitting out. In their place, Jerome Dyson and Brandon Triche had 13 apiece. - AMD, GMA News