Las Vegas, July 16 (IANS) India’s first National Basketball Association (NBA) player Satnam Singh Bhamara got to ply his trade in a brief four-minute appearance for Dallas Mavericks as his team knocked off Los Angeles Lakers 88-86 in the 2015 NBA Summer League here.
Jeremy Tyler led the Mavericks with 25 points and 11 rebounds in the late-game nail-biter. The 24-year-old Dallas centre whose NBA career includes stops in Atlanta, Golden State and New York, was 11-of-15 from field goal range and also had four offensive rebounds.
Satnam entered the game with two minutes left in the first quarter. He immediately made an impact, grabbing a defensive rebound. He went on to score his first points in the game with a free throw in the second quarter.
Justin Anderson added 16 points for the Mavericks on 6-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Dwight Powell had 12 points and nine rebounds and Maalik Wayns had 12 points and three assists.
Dallas cruised to a 30-20 lead at the end of the first quarter, thanks to nine points from Tyler and eight from Anderson. Anderson added five points in the second and as the Mavericks led by 12 at the half.
Trailing 68-63 at the end of three, Lakers tied the game at 76-all on a 3-point play by forward Jabari Brown.
Wayns missed a contested floating lay-up attempt from the baseline for Dallas. Tyler grabbed the rebound on the other side of the rim and dropped it.
After a Lakers timeout, 27th overall pick Larry Nance Jr. inbounded the ball to Julius Randle from 30-feet out, but the former Kentucky Wildcat couldn’t get a 3-point shot off before time expired.
Dallas moved on to the second round of the winner’s bracket where they will face the NBA Development League Select team next.