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SALT LAKE CITY — During his rookie season in 2014-15, Jazz wing Rodney Hood could often lean on his veteran teammates to help Utah pull out of a tight spot.
In Tuesday night’s summer league matchup with San Antonio, Hood was the veteran teammate.
And he pulled his team out, just like the others.
Hood scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half to help the Utah Jazz rally by the San Antonio Spurs 72-70 to remain unbeaten at the Utah Jazz Summer League at EnergySolutions Arena.
“You forget how young they are, but they are the leaders,” Jazz summer league head coach Alex Jensen said of his team. “They have to talk, and you hope that carries over.
“In your rookie season, you just yield and let other guys do the talking. But that’s part of our whole team: maturing and growing and hopefully the players do more talking than the coaches.”
Brock Motum and Chris Johnson each scored 10 points for the Jazz, and Bryce Cotton added eight points and a team-high four assists for Utah.
The Spurs (1-1) took the early edge, getting five quick points from Dairis Bertans to jump out to an 11-2 first quarter advantage and held off a Jazz held on for a 43-37 edge at halftime.
But after the break, Hood sprinted back on to the floor as if he had a superhero cape. The Duke product scored on a racing breakaway with 3:17 remaining to pull his team within four, then added a jumper with 2:22 left in the third quarter to bring the Jazz (2-0) within a possession at 58-55.
“As a team, we didn’t start off too well and came back and won against a very good team,” Hood said. “Some guys stepped up. J.J. (O’Brien) came in and gave us some big minutes. Jack (Cooley) did a great job on the boards and playing tough. It was a good win for us.”
Still, the Spurs refused to go down quietly. Kyle Anderson poured in a game-high 25 points, with 19 of them coming in the first half, to go along with eight rebounds and a pair of assists as San Antonio looked headed for summer league glory.
The Jazz turned the game around in the second half, as much defensively as offensively.
“I think it was a team effort,” Jensen said. “They were outrebounding us going into the fourth quarter, and we had our guards rebound down well, and they gave us a big chance. We scrambled.”
It wasn’t a perfect experience, Hood said. But that’s what summer league is for.
“I think we defended them well,” Hood added. “We gave them too many second chances, and a good team with shooters like that will make it tough. I think we did well, but we’ve got to continue to work on our habits — getting back in transition and talking. We’ve got a team that talks.”
After his fast start, Bertans scored only three points in the final three quarters, and Wayne Blackshear scored 10 of his 17 points before the break, as well.
J.J. O’Brien gave the Jazz a 67-65 lead on a 3-pointer from the elbow with 4:24 left in the game, and the host team would never trail again — though Treveon Graham did tie the game on the next possession with a transition bucket of his own.
Back-to-back baskets by Hood put the Jazz up four inside the final two minutes, and the budding wing swatted away Anderson’s final shot to move to 2-0 in the summer.
“Even though it’s just summer league, you keep score and you play to win,” Jensen said. “It’s hard, I think, after last night to play for the first time in a long time. The crowd gave a lot of energy, so we were tired tonight. But it was a great comeback tonight, and it makes them fun to coach.”
PHILADELPHIA 76, BOSTON 62 — The 76ers didn’t have much to talk about after a lackluster first half that saw them shoot 0-for-10 from 3-point range.
Instead, they did all their talking in the third quarter.
I think I did better than I did yesterday. I was working on certain things coach asked me, which was spacing the floor. I am just starting to get aggressive again. I kind of worked better with Furkan (Aldemir), building some chemistry. So I feel like I got better today.
–Philadelphia 76ers forward Jahlil Okafor
Jahlil Okafor, Jordan McRae and Richaun Holmes each scored 13 points to help the Sixers build a 28-19 third-quarter run and pull past from the Celtics, 76-62 on the second day of the Utah Jazz Summer League at EnergySolutions Arena.
“You are watching and evaluating toughness,” Sixers summer league coach Billy Lange said of his team’s slow start. “You’re watching and evaluating their character and their integrity and who is a leader, who stays with you.
“They imposed their will and shared the basketball and played with great effort. I was proud of them.”
Okafor added eight rebounds, McRae also had five boards and three assists, and Holmes supplied six rebounds in 12:26 off the bench to help the Sixers pick up their first summer league win of the week.
“I think I did better than I did yesterday,” Okafor said. “I was working on certain things coach asked me, which was spacing the floor. I am just starting to get aggressive again. I kind of worked better with Furkan (Aldemir), building some chemistry. So I feel like I got better today.”
Aldemir got the offense rolling in the third, scoring on a pair of 3-pointers to help Philadelphia (1-1) go up 41-36 with 5:04 remaining in the quarter, and the Sixers’ momentum only grew.
Aldemir finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds for Philadelphia, and Jerami Grant had 12 points and five rebounds.
Terry Rozier led the Celtics (0-2) with 14 points, two assists and two steals, and C.J. Fair added 10 points and six rebounds for Boston.
The teams will take the day off from games Wednesday and return for the final day of the Utah Jazz Summer League on Thursday, when the Spurs will play Boston at 5 p.m. and the Sixers will play the Jazz at 7 p.m.
