‘We’ve got to put on for Washington’: Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, WSU’s Isaac Jones building connection with Sacramento Kings

LAS VEGAS – After two games at the California Classic and two more at Las Vegas Summer League, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme and Washington State’s Isaac Jones are getting more comfortable playing next to each other in Sacramento’s frontcourt.

That much was evident Monday as the starting forwards teamed up to help the Kings dispatch the Utah Jazz 82-70 in a nightcap at Cox Pavilion, securing the team’s first win at the Vegas Summer League and third win since joining forces more than a week ago at the California Classic.

Timme used a second-half scoring surge to finish with 19 points – second among all scorers – to go with five rebounds and four assists in 22 minutes. Gonzaga’s career scoring leader finished 8 of 12 from the field, was 3 for 3 from the free -throw line and didn’t commit a turnover.

“It felt good, man, we had some good games out in Cali and this first game I think we just came out a little reactive,” Timme said. “Today we came out proactive from the jump and it paid off as you all can see.”

Timme was 2 of 4 from the field with four points in the first half, but got more looks after the break and was especially aggressive in the fourth quarter, when he went 5 of 7 from the field and scored 10 points.

Timme’s court vision and playmaking earned high praise from ESPN color commentator P.J. Carlesimo, a former three-time NBA champion assistant coach who still resides in Seattle and called a handful of Gonzaga games during the forward’s career in Spokane.

“I’m biased. I saw him an awful lot living in Seattle and the Zags being so close,” Carlesimo said. “Drew Timme’s not a good basketball player, he’s an excellent basketball player. That’s one of the reasons right there, the way he can pass the ball and it’s become so important for so many teams. You don’t have to be Nikola Jokic, but we showed those guys before, Vlade Divac up on the elbow making the passes.

“Drew Timme does a lot of things well. It’s hard for me to imagine there’s not a place somewhere among 30 teams for this young guy.”

Jones, who’s started next to Timme in each of the team’s four Summer League games in Sacramento and Vegas, finished with six points and a team-high seven rebounds in the victory. A junior college product who played at Idaho before transferring to WSU, Jones was 3 of 7 from the field and had one blocked shot and one assist.

“I think our play styles really complement each other,” Timme said of Jones. “We both like to cut, kind of play make, but he’s really athletic and I’m pretty good at moving the ball around so it’s a pretty good dynamic. We’ve got to put on for Washington man.”

Wells responds in Memphis winAfter an impressive closing act at the Salt Lake City Summer League, Washington State’s Jaylen Wells didn’t have as much to show for his first six quarters in Las Vegas.

The Memphis Grizzlies’ 39th overall pick scored only six points on 16% shooting in the team’s opener against the Sacramento Kings, and Wells’ only first-half points during Monday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks came on a pair of free throws in the first quarter.

Wells got out of his scoring funk near the end of the third quarter when he made a pull-up jumper from just inside the 3-point line and finished the period with a running floater that extended Memphis’ lead to 87-54.

The former WSU wing didn’t sub back out of the game until the 1-minute, 48-second mark of the fourth quarter and continued to pad his stat line, scoring seven points in the final period to finish with 11 points inside the game’s final eight minutes and 13 in total.

Wells showed his offensive versatility in the game’s later stages, making an array of shots in the fourth quarter that included a driving layup, a 3-pointer from the right wing and a right-handed floater off the glass.

The former Division II standout who transferred to WSU from Sonoma State finished 5 of 8 from the field, including 1 of 4 from the 3-point line, and 2 of 2 from the free -throw line in a 108-88 win for Memphis at Cox Pavilion. He also had two rebounds, two assists and two of the Grizzlies’ 16 steals. Wells registered 24 minutes on Monday after logging 18 in his Vegas debut on Friday.

The All-Pac-12 wing now has 19 points in two Vegas Summer League games after scoring 29 points in two games at Salt Lake Summer League – 27 of those coming in a single game against the Philadelphia 76ers .

On Monday, Memphis jumped out to a 25-4 lead, forced the Mavericks into 13 first-quarter turnovers and led by as many as 34 points in the second half.

Celtics, Watson top Lakers, James

Anton Watson hopes to be around for many chapters of the longstanding NBA rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers

The former Gonzaga standout and recent second-round draft pick got his first taste of it Monday at Summer League, where one of the event’s largest crowds came out to watch Watson and the Celtics take on Bronny James and the Lakers.

Boston got the best of Los Angeles with an 86-74 win at the Thomas & Mack Center and Watson finished with a better stat line than James, the son of four-time NBA champion LeBron James who was selected one pick after the Celtics took the Gonzaga forward with the 54th overall pick.

Watson finished with seven points on 2 of 3 from the field and 3 of 4 from the stat line, playing 24 minutes off the bench in his second Summer League game. The Gonzaga Prep product also had seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.

“It felt good, first game I kind of got the nerves out and today I felt pretty good just playing,” Watson said. “The atmosphere was good, Lakers-Celtics I think everyone wants to see that. But yeah, we played good today and it felt fun.”

James, who played one season at USC but didn’t suit up for the Trojans’ nonconference game against Gonzaga last December in Vegas, finished 1 of 5 from the field, 0 of 3 from the 3-point line and had three rebounds, one assist and two turnovers in 25 minutes.

The second-round picks didn’t spend much time guarding one another, but Watson closed out on James before the guard missed a 3-pointer in the first half, then came up with a steal that resulted in a layup on the other end for the former Zag.

Former Gonzaga teammate Killian Tillie logged 13 minutes for Boston in the game and overcame a spotty shooting performance in his Summer League opener to finish with eight points on 3 of 8 from the field and 2 of 5 from the 3-point line. Tillie also had two rebounds and two blocks.