LAS VEGAS — Portland Trail Blazers second-year guard Shaedon Sharpe scored 26 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, to lead the Blazers to a 97-93 win against the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday in summer-league play in Las Vegas.
Sharpe hit 8 of 17 shots, including two of his four 3-point attempts, and made 8 of 11 from the free-throw line. In the first three games of summer league, Sharpe is averaging 18.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 block per game.
Blazers rookie Kris Murray, the 23rd pick in this summer's NBA Draft, hit four 3-pointers and scored 19 points for Portland (2-1). He also grabbed seven rebounds. The rookie is having a solid summer-league performance, averaging 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds. He's shooting 47.8% from the field and 40% from the 3-point line.
Second-year forward Jabari Walker had 10 points and six rebounds for Portland. He's averaging 12.7 points and 9.0 rebounds in three summer-league games.
Michael Devoe and Duop Reath added 12 points each for the Blazers.
Portland's fourth game of summer league is Thursday against the Orlando Magic (6 p.m., ESPN2). The four top teams will then play in the summer-league championship tournament. All other 26 teams will play one final game.
No. 2 pick Brandon Miller breaks out for Hornets
After a rough start, No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller finally had a breakout performance in summer league play.
The 6-foot-9 forward scored 26 points in the Hornets' loss Tuesday. He made 8 of 15 field goals and 7 of 7 free throws.
"I kind of let the game come to me," Miller said. "I feel like I was put in the right places to get off comfortable shots."
Miller was a first-team Associated Press All-American as a freshman at Alabama last season. He also is tied to a case that led to former Alabama player Darius Miles and another man being indicted on capital murder charges. A police investigator testified in February that Miles texted Miller to bring him his gun that night. Miller hasn't been charged with wrongdoing, but the episode brought him unwanted attention.
The situation didn't affect his draft stock. Some were surprised when he was picked ahead of Scoot Henderson at No. 2. Henderson went No. 3 to Portland.
Miller still needed to get comfortable at the professional level. He was up-and-down in the summer league in Sacramento. He scored 18 points against San Antonio on July 3, then scored just six points against the Golden State Warriors in 31 minutes on July 5.
In Las Vegas, he had 16 points and 11 rebounds on July 7 against San Antonio but made just 5 of 15 shots. He followed that by scoring 10 points on 4-for-18 shooting in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday before his strong performance on Tuesday.
Nick Smith Jr., Miller's fellow first-round pick and former AAU teammate, scored 33 points for the Hornets against Portland. Smith said he and Miller have been helping each other adapt to pro ball.
"Just on the simple fact that he's been there since," Smith said. "He's seen my grind, I've seen his grind, literally. It's kind of surreal. It really hasn't hit us yet, for real."
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