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LAS VEGAS -- Its July, and its the NBA Summer League.But Saturday night the Thomas and Mack Center felt more like a playoff game, with a near-capacity crowd taking in the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers, as the game featured the top two picks from last months NBA Draft.No. 1 pick Ben Simmons, who made his Summer League debut with the 76ers last week in Salt Lake City, had his first run-in with second pick Brandon Ingram.While Simmons seemingly won the battle on the stat sheet, it was Ingrams assist with 1.8 seconds left in the game that led to DAngelo Russells buzzer beater that lifted the Lakers to a 70-69 victory.Simmons finished with 8 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Ingram had just seven points and four rebounds.There was a lot of hype coming into this game. Youre trying to get the jitters out and try to play the game, but I think there was a lot of energy in the building tonight, Ingram said. The game doesnt end until the clock is out (and) I just know DAngelo is a good player and he just knocked down a big shot.Though the Sixers played in Salt Lake Citys Summer League, and the Lakers played incredibly Friday night in their league-opener, both teams appeared rattled from the opening tip, in the national spotlight for a matchup that has been hyped since last months draft.Both Simmons and Ingram came out aggressive early on feeling they needed to impress a national television audience as well as those in attendance. Nevertheless, with the Salt Lake Summer League under his belt, Simmons said he wasnt bothered by the crowd or the ballyhooed showdown between him and Ingram.It was Lakers versus Philly tonight, whoever you matchup against youre trying to go hard, Simmons said. I came out last night (to the Lakers game) so I knew they were going to go crazy every lay-up. Thats L.A. fans for you, theyre great.Russell created the first exciting moment of the game when he drove past the 76ers defense to the right side of the basket, and stuffed a left-handed slam dunk at the 4:38 mark. It sparked a little bit of ribbing between him and Simmons, as the two were teammates at Montverde Academy in Florida. At one point in the first half, Simmons got in Russells ear after Lakers power forward Larry Nance Jr. collected his fourth foul, while Russell pawed at the ball before Simmons was able to inbound under the basket another time.Thats my guy, Russell said of Simmons. Win or lose, we know what we went through to get to this point. Going to high school, we know how tough it was. But Bens going to be a great player.Though this was Russells second year at the Summer League, the 6-foot-5 guard said even he had jitters in front of the raucous crowd. Last years single-day attendance record of 12,422 was shattered with a reported 16,208 in attendance on Saturday.This crowd is so electric and it definitely makes you nervous; coming out in the beginning of the game I had jitters, so I cant imagine what (Ingram) had, Russell said. It gets easier, and Ill keep preaching to him that it only gets easier and hell be fine.Lakers coach Luke Walton was all smiles, as well, with a packed house to cheer on his team, which is now 2-0 after the first two days, and how it persevered both nights.The Laker fans are some of the best in all of sports. From what I can remember playing preseason games here 15 years ago, it was always like this. Weve had great support in this city and to hear them cheer and see the numbers show up, it was great, Walton said. But to me most importantly is we competed and thats the attitude I want us to have. To see the young guys get after it in a Summer League game is really encouraging. Were just getting a gauge on where Brandon is, its a big jump into the NBA for a kid his age. Hes a phenomenal defender. Hes long, he gets his hands on the ball and gets a lot of deflections. Just to see him play within the offense and do all the things hes done for us is incredible, in that a guy that young knows how to do that already. Cheap NFL Jerseys Online . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. Cheap NFL Jerseys . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. http://www.cheaponlinenfljerseys.com/ . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. Cheap NFL Stitched Jerseys . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. England Lions have been easily ignored this summer, given an enthralling Test series and the turbulence in the wider world. But those who have cared to notice were treated to a side that entered the record books by eviscerating the Pakistan and Sri Lankan A attacks, like overzealous dads dismantling childrens bowling.Four matches spread over a week were all the Lions needed to become The History Boys. By the end, they had set a litany of records: the 11th highest team score in List A history; the most individual scores of over 150 made by any team in a one-day series; the second highest partnership in List A history. Of all the towering numbers, one stands one: 220 not out, the score made by Ben Duckett against Sri Lanka A at Canterbury on Monday. It was the second highest score ever made by an Englishman in List A cricket, after Alistair Browns record 268, and the eighth highest of all time. And Duckett only arrived at the crease in the 12th over.**Its an amazing feeling. To score a double hundred in a 50-over game is very special, Duckett reflects. It was a crazy week. Everything came off.Indeed it did. Along with his double century, Duckett also scored an unbeaten 163 to help England waltz to their target in the opening game of the tri-series. The Lions won all four of their games emphatically, attesting to the talent bubbling under beneath the full ODI side.Duckett is shaping up as one of the standard-bearers of the new generation, uninhibited by convention, and liberated by the spirit of self-expression permeating all levels of Englands limited-overs sides. When Im playing my best Im fearless and not afraid to try things. If theres a gap in the field Ill try and hit that gap. I back myself to play any shot. And he means every shot: Duckett is a 360-degree player willing to pay the scoop and reverse sweep, often seen in the form of a slog sweep, at any point in his innings.It is a reflection not just of Ducketts multifarious skills, but also of something greater: how far English limited-overs cricket has come on from the stultifying, paralysing conservatism that was once wired into the side.Encountering a used pitch at Canterbury on Monday, Duckett and the team reckoned that 280 was par and 300 would have been a good score. Englands whole strategy would once have been predicated on this idea; famously, the side were delighted to reach 229 against Sri Lanka in the 2011 World Cup quarter-finals, only to lose by ten wickets.This approach has now been thrown out. When two guys are in and batting well, its fairly easy, Duckett says. Certainly it seemed that way when he and Daniel Bell-Drummond were adding an undefeated 367 for the second wicket, falling only five runs shy of the all-time partnership record in List A cricket.Yet, if there is a sense of bravado to Ducketts batting, this does not come at the expense of nous. At Canterbury, he took 45 balls over his 50 - risk-free accumulation at better than a-run-a-ball, the way of the modern age - before going berserk, scoring 170 off his next 86 balls. I just got to 50 by batting normally and ticking over, and then I played a few more shots and got to my hundred. After I got to my hundred I just said Im going to keep going. I just kept hitting the gaps. Six times he cleared them, too.Ducketts approach to batting has been likened to that of Eoin Morgan, and with good reason. The similarities are obvious: both are left-handers who find power to belie their ostensibly unremarkable frames, have a penchant for spin bowling that is seldom found in the county game, and delight in working the ball into unusual angles, often playing the ball so late it seems virtually in the wicketkeepers gloves. Talking to Duckett, it is clear that the similarity extends to their methodical, clinical approach to limited-overs batting: not merely calculating how to score runs off the next ball, but how to shift the field.If the seamers are bowling with the fine leg up, Im not afraid to scoop over fine leg. Then theyve got to drop fine leg back and maybe bring mid-off up. Its just playing around with the field, thats why I try and do.Against spin, the worth of Ducketts reverse sweep lies not only in the runs it brings him, but tthe scoring opportunities it opens up elsewhere.dddddddddddd Ive been playing it for years and its a fairly low risk boundary option for me. When I can get the ball past point theyve got to stick two guys there. And then I can play a normal sweep, or hit the ball back over their heads. With the extra man in the circle its tough for spinners.Perhaps not coincidentally, these skills against spin have been honed at Wantage Road, traditionally one of the county circuits most receptive grounds for spin bowling. Ive got my spot in the Lions because of the chances Ive had at Northants, he says.But it hasnt been an easy path. At the start of last summer, Duckett was dropped from a pre-season tour to Barbados last year, then consigned to the 2nd XI for a period, because of fitness and last July was also handed a ban for drink-driving. It was not the first time Ducketts girth had been a problem: as England U-19 captain three years ago, he was dropped for failing to meet minimum fitness standards.Northamptonshires response was enlightened: they pushed Duckett, then aged only 20, up the order to open. He responded with four centuries in eight Championship matches, and became a more complete cricketer although, for now, his wicketkeeping has been put on hold.Its made me a better player against seam bowling. I was always fairly strong against spin, but Ive learned how to hit the seamers to the boundary. Ive also learned how to score hundreds and double hundreds now. Rather than getting a hundred and out, I know that I can kick on and get a big 150+ or even a double hundred.And Duckett believes that his recent run of scores, including an unbeaten 282 in the County Championship against Sussex, has shown that he is fit enough to play cricket, though he plans to focus more on conditioning work this winter.**He can already count Andy Flower, the England Lions coach, as a fervent admirer. Bens got very fast hands, Flower reflects. This might sound really obvious but he hit the ball in the middle of the bat a lot. Hes got a big array of shots but he also held his composure really well. His choice of shot and execution were outstanding. And he concentrated for long periods.Ducketts unbeaten 163 in his first ever game for the Lions showed the other players what was possible if youve got a bit of confidence and aggression, Flower says.How the rest of the top order followed. Dawid Malan, Sam Billings and Bell-Drummond all scored innings of over 150 of their own while Liam Livingstone, who Flower says hits the ball as hard as any in world cricket, also provided a glimpse of his pyrotechnics in the middle order.Of all the signs of Englands ODI renaissance, in a sense the Lions batting was the most significant: evidence of how the change in attitudes to limited-overs batting extends to the next generation.Theyve seen the senior team lead in the aggression, says Flower. I was surprised by the level of depth and power, yes. They displayed quite an amazing array of shots and some serious talent - its really exciting for English cricket to see this amount of talent. Innovation and hitting balls in areas where it previously wasnt imagined has just become normal.In his 15 year involvement with the English game, as a player for Essex and then a coach, Flower believes that England have never had such depth in power hitting. This has engendered fierce competition.This is evident not just in all the runs Englands second string scored. It is evident in how, when it looked like injury would rule him out of the squad, Bell-Drummond called up a selector to request more time to prove his fitness. And it is evident, too, in how Duckett chastises himself for giving away starts in his last two one-day games for Northants: scores of 46 and 86 are useful enough, but Duckett knows he needs even more to get his chance for the full ODI squad.You have to make sure when youre in form you really cash in. Ive been disappointed a few times in the last couple of days about getting myself out when Im in such good nick. Ive got to score as many hundreds as I can while Im in form. ' ' '