Kyle Anderson, the former St. Anthony's of Jersey City star, continued his solid summer league play Thursday and put the Nets away early and often, as his Spurs beat the Nets, 74-71, in Las Vegas, ending the Nets attempt to win the LVSL and giving them a 3-2 record going into the league's consolation round on Friday, playing a team of D-League All-Stars at 8 p.m. ET.
Anderson led all players with 25 points (10-22 FG) as well as eight rebounds. He entered the game ranked third overall in scoring at Vegas Summer League. He was a big part of the Spurs early lead. The Spurs came out looking well rested after earning a day off in game action. The Nets made just three field goal attempts in the entire first quarter (16.7 percent). Anderson dropped six points to help give his team a 21-13 lead.
The Nets got aggressive in the second quarter, scoring eight of their 15 points in the paint. They cut the Spurs lead to 36-28 at halftime. Defensively, D-League alum Willie Reed and undrafted Cliff Alexander grabbed seven rebounds apiece for the Nets in the quarter.
In the third, Brooklyn went on a 21-5 run and took a seven-point lead halfway through the fourth quarter. Spurs guard Jarrell Eddie, who played for the Austin Spurs last season, drained a trey to tie the game up at 63 apiece with 4:22 remaining.
A pair of free throws by Anderson gave the Spurs a one-point lead with 49.9 seconds left. They added to their edge with a Jonathon Simmons driving layup. The Nets had a chance to tie the game up after Darion Atkins missed a pair of free throws for the Spurs. Markel Brown missed a three-point attempt, however, with 1.9 seconds left and the Spurs held on for the win.
Brown finished the game with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting. He's picked up his game dramatically since Orlando and is averaging 16 points a game in Las Vegas. . Alexander finished with eight points, a game-high 13 rebounds, including five offensive, and three blocks. First-round pick Rondae Hollis-Jefferson contributed 11 points and eight rebounds, put shot only 5-of-13.