With key rotation players resting, Keldon Johnson shined for the San Antonio Spurs in their second victory of Salt Lake City Summer League.
It’s no secret that R.C. Buford has a knack for drafting steals late in the first-round of the NBA Draft. The latest of his gems to burst onto the scene is Kentucky guard/forward Keldon Johnson, who put on a show after a lackluster performance against Cleveland.
The San Antonio Spurs bulldozed Memphis 99-84 off of Johnson’s game-high 29 points on an efficient 59 percent shooting from the field along with 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc.
Although his scoring wasn’t necessarily the point of focus from a scouting perspective coming out of his lone season under John Calipari, Johnson showed off the complete arsenal of tools at his disposal in the contest. His three-point shots came off of the catch-and-shoot while muscling in the paint for putbacks and acrobatic layups.
On the defensive end, Johnson was equally as impressive with three steals and a block including some Dejounte Murray-esque interceptions in the passing lane. He hounded his matchup on defense and finished second on the team in plus/minus at 13, just one point behind the team’s second leading scorer, Ben Moore.
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After a season occupying one of the team’s two-way contracts, Moore showed off a polished game with 16 points and seven rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting from the field. His maturity translated to the court against Memphis’ younger players. The 24-year-old positioned himself near the basket and showed tremendous effort on the glass while attacking the rim with ferocity.
In his third season competing in the Summer League circuit for San Antonio, 31-year-old guard Jeff Ledbetter continues to show off a loaded arsenal with 15 points including five triples on 10 takes along with seven boards, tying Moore, Johnson and Thomas Robinson for a team-high. Robinson played 19 minutes and scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field.
This was a dominating win for the Summer Spurs, who only allowed the lead to fall to Memphis once in the entire game. Despite losing the turnover battle by one measly error, San Antonio led the Grizzlies in every other major statistical category.
The Spurs will close out Summer League tonight against the Utah Jazz in a contest that’ll be available to watch on NBATV at 8:00 PM EST.