Gonzaga’s Drew Timme gets off to hot start in Kings’ loss to Knicks in NBA Summer League

Timme finished with nine points as Sacramento’s second-half comeback fell short against New York

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Coming off his best performance in the NBA Summer League, Drew Timme found himself playing crunch time minutes in a highly contested affair against the New York Knicks on Wednesday.

The Gonzaga men’s basketball star got off to a solid start, as he nailed a 3-pointer and converted on a layup before getting a steal off Duane Washington Jr. in the first quarter. Timme got another paint score in his five minutes of action in the second quarter, and after an even quieter third quarter, he entered the fourth with Sacramento trailing by three points.

The 6-foot-10 Texan had been the focal point in the Kings’ 82-70 win over the Utah Jazz just two nights earlier; he had 19 points, four assists and five rebounds while accounting for 15 of Sacramento’s 17 points in the fourth quarter. In a Domantas Sabonis-esque role, Timme’s playmaking was on full display.

“Obviously, being a Zag myself, I grew up watching Sabonis,” Timme said after Monday’s game. “Obviously, I’ve watched him in the league as well. I feel pretty comfortable doing that stuff. It’s kind of what I did at GU, and the goal is to get anywhere near what Sabonis has done because he’s a hell of a player.”

Timme’s final stat line from Wednesday wasn’t as flashy, though he still found ways to have an impact in crunch time. He set a solid screen to set up his teammate Mason Jones for a crucial 3-pointer that cut Sacramento’s deficit to one with 1:10 left on the clock, followed by a strong contest on a 3-point attempt from Washington that would’ve given New York a 2-point lead (Knicks rookie Tyler Kolek followed the miss and scored). After Kolek’s basket, another hard screen from Timme freed up Jones to find Keon Ellis from deep to put the Kings back ahead by two.

Kolek struck again though, as the former Marquette standout drove to the lane and finished through contact for a 3-point play with two seconds left in regulation. Jones’ heave at the buzzer misfired, dropping the Kings to 1-2 in Las Vegas Summer League play.

Timme finished with nine points, three rebounds, one block and one steal in 22 minutes as a starter. He shot 4-of-7 from the field and connected on one of his three 3-point attempts. 

Not his most productive outing in summer league thus far, but there’s clearly a path for Timme to carve out a role based on his fit in Sacramento’s offense. Kings summer league coach Doug Christie has implemented some of the same philosophies from Mike Brown’s playbook, which has put Timme in Sabonis’ role as a versatile threat on offense from the elbows. It’s not the same back-to-the-basket style of play Gonzaga fans saw from the program’s all-time leading scorer, and if Timme’s performances in Las Vegas amount to a two-way contract, he’ll need to continue to prove he can adapt to the modern NBA big man.

The Kings are back in action Thursday against the Washington Wizards at 4 p.m. PST on ESPN.

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