Scotty Pippen Jr. tallies triple-double, leads Grizzlies to NBA Summer League Championship appearance

Scotty Pippen, Jr. erupted for a big-time performance just went the Grizzlies needed it on Sunday. His timing couldn’t have been any better. The former Vanderbilt star stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Memphis defeated the LA Clippers in NBA Summer League action, 99-98.

The Grizzlies also got big-time performances from GG Jackson (20 points, four rebounds, four assists) and Jaylen Wells (28 points, three rebounds, two assists) in punching their ticket to the NBA Summer League Championship Game.

They’ll face off against the Miami Heat for the title. The 2024 NBA Summer League Championship Game will be on Monday, July 22nd at 8:00 PM EST. That game will be televised on ESPN.

Pippen has been posting impressive numbers for the Grizzlies all summer long, becoming the only player in Summer League history to average: more than 20 points per game, 5 rebounds per game, and 8 assists per game. His triple double is also just the sixth triple double in NBA Summer League history.

The Miami Heat punched their tickets to the Summer League final on Sunday, thanks to Pelle Larsson and Kel’el Ware. Both of those players have carried them in Vegas and Sunday was no different. Larsson finished with 21 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals in his team’s 102-99 win the in semifinals vs. the Warriors. Ware finished with 18 points (53.3% shooting) and five rebounds. Miami also got a clutch performance from Josh Christopher, who stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points, drilling some critical buckets down the stretch.

And the Warriors got a monster performance from Kevin Knox II, 31 points and 11 rebounds with five three-pointers.

Pippen has shown substantial improvement over the years

Pippen was undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft, before signing a two-way contract with the LA Lakers. In October of 2023, he rejoined the South Bay Lakers, their G-League affiliate. Then, on January of 2024, he signed a two-way deal with the Memphis Grizzlies.

In the 2022-2023 campaign, he saw limited minutes with the Lakers in the NBA, averaging 2.3 points, while shooting 33.3% from three-point range. He only saw time in six games. But in the 2023-2024 campaign, Pippen’s production improved dramatically with the Memphis Grizzlies, averaging 12.9 points 4.7 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 41.7% from beyond-the-arc. He saw action in 21 games for the Grizzlies’ NBA team last year, while starting 16 of those.