Friar Basketball

Batts Impressive in SL Debut

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Kadeem Batts made the most of the 14 minutes he got in his Orlando Summer League debut on Saturday, scoring 11 points on 5-8 shooting in an 83-77 victory for the Orlando Magic over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Nerlens Noel was the headliner in this one, as he was making his professional debut after sitting out last season to recover from a leg injury suffered during his only season at Kentucky. The Everett, MA native didn’t disappoint, throwing down a monster dunk within seconds of the game starting, and scoring 19 points (thanks to a surprising 7-7 at the free throw line) to lead the Sixers.

Batts was up for the challenge of facing Noel, however, freezing him prior to banking home a hook shot in the second half, and producing as well as any big man on the Orlando roster.

The Magic are as loaded as any team playing in Orlando. 2013’s 2nd overall pick, Victor Oladipo, is back, and he’s joined by a pair of 2014 lottery picks in Aaron Gordon (7 points, 5 rebounds in 25 minutes) and Elfrid Payton (2 points). They also feature former Duke star Seth Curry and impressive 2nd round draft pick Roy Devyn Marble (13 points, 5-7 shooting).

There’s plenty of scoring there, but Batts was assertive early. He made a deep baseline hook shot soon after entering the game and flashed his jumper in the second half, making a 12 footer and a straight away 20 footer as well.

Batts also finished with three rounds and a pair of turnovers.

Overall, it was a very solid outing for the Providence grad, who is listed as 6’9, 256 lbs.

Here’s the box score from NBA.com.

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