Beasley's Dominance Punctuates First Day of Orlando Summer League

Hey, it's the first day. It's the Summer League. It was one game. The first game. Of the Summer League. It's a long week, a long season, a long career. And I'm going to doubt any of that makes Chicago fans that were paying attention to the first day of the NBA's Orlando Summer League feel better, or Miami fans feel worse about today's little exhibition.

Michael Beasley was, in a word, brilliant. 28 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block in 22 minutes. He could have been playing against D-Leaguers, the Harlem Globetrotters, or Mrs. Wormtail's second grade class, those are some slick numbers. That he did it against No.1 overall pick Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls, in the midst of a 94-70 whupping made it all the more emphatic. The Heat dominated this game, even as Chicago started Rose, Joakim Noah, and Tyrus Thomas, who you may recognize as starters and heavy rotation guys. Not exactly a pretty start, even if its easy to brush off, given the absurd context of the Magic's practice facility in a meaningless exhibition in which D-League MVP Kasib Powell scored 15 and Keith Langford and Demetris Nichols led the Bulls. Beasley's game was in full effect today, as he worked his mid-range, long-range, post-work, and driving abilities. In a league that's meant to be used as a scrimmage clinic, Beasley put on one.

In the first game of the day, Russell Westbrook debuted for the Oklahoma Whatchamacallits (name to be decided later), with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Sophomore Jeff Green added 21 points, but in the end the Indiana Pacers squad was victorious behind Andre Emmett's 15, and Earl Calloway's 16 points, 7 assists. Westbrook was the star of the game, though. Not only did he direct the offense and display both aggressiveness and restraint when it was called for, he only accumulated 1 turnover in 30 minutes, which is great for a rookie point guard (like, oh, say, Derrick Rose who had 5 turnovers. But who's counting?).

In the nightcap, the New Jersey Nets used a whole lot of resentment by Brook Lopez who dropped in the draft, to Chris Douglas Roberts who plummeted to the second round, to Jaycee Carroll, who fell out of the draft completely, to dominate the host Orlando Magic. Lopez had 10 points, CDR had 15 points and 5 boards, and Jaycee Carroll, out of Utah State, had 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. In 20 minutes. Jeez. For the Magic, rookie Courtney Lee had 13 points and Derrick Byars had 15. But the Nets slaughtered the Magic in the paint, 40-18. That's kind of a lot, especially for a Magic squad that had a significant size advantage it would seem.

The story of the day,though, was obviously Rose vs. Beasley. And while Beasley was busy getting his, Rose was having severe issues with Heat second round pick Mario Chalmers. Chalmers has been outspoken about his intentions to get significant minutes for the point guard deficient Heat, and today he made a pretty strong case. Chalmers had 11 points and 6 rebounds for the Heat, and did a great job of guarding Rose. It's only one day, and Rose did show flashes of offensive brilliance, driving to the basket in the second half, but overall it was a little disappointment after all the hype. For Michael Beasley, it was just another fun day at the office.