The NBA 2K25 Summer League officially kicked off on Friday from Las Vegas with seven games.
Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers were in action, as was NCAA tournament legend DJ Burns for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr—the NBA draft’s top two picks—made their debuts as well against each other.
Here’s a look at how they did, some reactions to the performances and a look at the night’s results.
Day 1 Scores (as of midnight ET)
Orlando Magic 106, Cleveland Cavaliers 79
Minnesota Timberwolves 81, New Orleans Pelicans 74
Memphis Grizzlies 103, Sacramento Kings 83
Houston Rockets 99, Los Angeles Lakers 80
Brooklyn Nets 97, Indiana Pacers 95
Washington Wizards 94, Atlanta Hawks 88
Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Clippers: ongoing as of midnight ET
Bronny James
Bronny James showed more offensive aggressiveness from the jump against the Houston Rockets after taking just 11 combined field goals over his first two summer league games.
However, it was a tough shooting night for James, who made just 3-of-14 field goals (0-of-8 from three-point range) for eight points in a 99-80 loss.
James did add five rebounds and two steals in his 27 minutes.
He scored six first-quarter points, including this bucket following an assist from fellow rookie Dalton Knecht.
Fans reacted to his performance.
It’s been a tough offensive start to James’ summer league (6-of-26 from the field, 0-of-12 from three), but he’s only three exhibition games into his time as a Laker. His next game will be Monday against the Boston Celtics.
DJ Burns
Burns didn’t get much run for the Cleveland Cavaliers in their 106-79 loss to the Orlando Magic, posting four points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal in 12 minutes.
Burns got his first summer league points off a putback and later added another bucket in the paint for his second field goal.
Burns has definitely lost weight from his NC State days, but he’s still a big player and hard to deal with.
Burns obviously has his fans, still.
Hopefully we’ll see Burns get more run in the Cavs’ second game, which will be against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.
Risacher vs. Sarr
Sarr and the Washington Wizards defeated Risacher and the Atlanta Hawks 94-86. Sarr had 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting and seven rebounds but did his best work on the defensive end with four blocks and a steal. Three of those blocks occurred in a 23-second span.
Analysts were impressed with Sarr in the early going.
Risacher scored 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting alongside five rebounds. He did work all over the court, including a coast-to-coast left-handed jam with Sarr trailing and a few threes.
Risacher got some good reviews for Night 1.
Washington will play the Houston Rockets next on Sunday. The Hawks also play that day against the San Antonio Spurs.