The NBA’s Summer League championship game will go down on Monday as the unbeaten Chicago Bulls take on the underdog Minnesota Timberwolves. The T-Wolves entered the playoffs as the #24 seed, but have rattled off four-straight wins to reach the Finals, and they can thank the newly-named Summer League MVP Tyus Jones for the turnaround.
Jones has averaged 19.4 points and 6.3 assists on 45 percent shooting in seven games to win the top prize. Jones’ top performance came on Sunday when he scored 29 points and had six assists in a win over the Suns.
The former Duke star had several other memorable games, though, including a 21-point, 8-assist outing against Toronto.
And a 26-point, 10-assist domination of the Grizzlies.
Jones will probably be remembered most, however, for his Reggie Miller impression against Toronto. Depending on your point of view, it was either an egregious flop or a crafty veteran-like maneuver, but either way, it ending up giving Jones the game-winning free throws and allowed his team to advance to the next round of the playoffs.
Jones will be looking to crack the T-Wolves rotation in his second NBA season next year, and Tom Thibodeau had to like what he saw from the former NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in Vegas.
In addition to Jones, there were several other Summer League standouts that were honored by making the All-Summer League team. He was joined on the first team by the likes of Ben Simmons, Bobby Portis, Jordan McRae, and Alan Williams, while the second team was highlighted by the appearance of Thon Maker and Jaylen Brown. Full details of the honorees can be found here.
Jones will lead Minnesota against Portis and the Bulls in the Summer League championship game at 9 p.m. on Monday evening.
