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| Justin Anderson hugs Jeremy Tyler after he made the winning basket for Dallas. Getty Images |
By Ivan Saldajeno
LAS VEGAS--Bobby Ray Parks has slowly but surely getting to the NBA groove.
The former Hapee Fresh Fighters star finally made a field goal in his fourth NBA Summer League, and the Dallas Mavericks pulled an 88-86 upset over the Los Angeles Lakers in the start of the playoffs at the Thomas and Mack Center on Thursday (Philippine Time).
The undrafted Parks drove to the lane and got past second overall pick D'Angelo Russell for the easy layup that helped the Mavericks open a double-digit spread late in the first quarter. He made a free throw in the third quarter to finish with three points.
However, fellow Fil-Am sensation Jordan Clarkson, former Talk 'n Text import Tony Mitchell, and the returning Julius Randle led the Lakers' comeback and took a 63-61 lead late in the third.
The Mavs eventually took the edge back, but the Lakers still put up a fight and tied the game, 86-all, with 1:25 left.
After a minute of fruitless efforts from both teams, Jeremy Tyler nailed the game-winning follow-up shot for the Mavs with 1.4 seconds left as the Lakers failed to even put up an attempt at the final horn.
Tyler finished with 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting, 11 rebounds, one block, and one steal for the Mavericks, who only won for the first time in the preseason tournament. Despite finishing the preliminaries at 0-3, they made it to the next round as the first three games are primarily for seeding the 24 participating teams come the knockout stages.
Jabari Brown led the Lakers with 19 markers, six rebounds, one assist, and one block.
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