Ace Bailey, at least so far, seems to be fitting in just fine in Salt Lake City.
Bailey scored 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists in the Utah Jazz’s 112-111 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night in the Utah Summer League. He even threw down a huge lob after a perfect assist from Isaiah Collier in the second quarter.
Bailey had 12 of his 18 points in the first half after he shot 5-of-9 from the field. He threw down another dunk in the third quarter after picking up a rebound.
The dunk of the night, though, belonged to teammate Kyle Filipowski. He brought the ball up the court near the midway point of the third quarter and went straight at the rim before throwing down a one-handed dunk over GG Jackson.
Thanks to a 13-3 run capped by a Bailey 3-pointer, the Jazz jumped out in front in the early minutes of the fourth quarter. That was enough to give them the edge the rest of the way and lead them to the one-point win, which moved them to 2-0 in the Utah Summer League.
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Jackson led the Grizzlies with 27 points and five rebounds in the loss. Jaylen Wells added 23 points, and Cam Spencer finished with 23 points after going 7-of-10 from behind the arc.
Though Bailey had a strong showing all around, it was Brice Sensabaugh who dominated for the Jazz. He put up 37 points while draining six 3-pointers and shooting 9-of-14 from the field. He came up with a huge steal in the final seconds, too.
Jackson hit a buzzer-beater right after that with his foot just inside of the 3-point line, which left the Grizzlies a point shy of forcing the extra period.
The Jazz took Sensabaugh with the No. 28 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft out of Ohio State, and he averaged 10.9 points and three rebounds largely off the bench last season. Cody Williams finished with 18 points for the Jazz, and Collier added 13.
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The game was the second Summer League action Bailey has seen with the Jazz. He had eight points in his debut, which came against No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe.
Bailey was widely considered to be the No. 3 overall pick in the draft earlier this summer, but he declined to work out for any franchise. He was the only American-based prospect who didn’t work out for any team outside of the scouting combine. The Jazz still opted to take him fifth. Then, after a bit of awkwardness, Bailey reported to the team and denied having issues with the franchise.
“Nah, not at all,” Bailey said when asked if he considered not reporting during his introductory media conference last month. “Just blessed to be in this position I am.”
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While it’s still very early in Bailey’s playing career — he’s yet to make his debut with the franchise in a real game, after all — he’s clearly off to a solid start with the Jazz.
“Just confidence, stop thinking so hard,” Bailey said of his second outing on ESPN. “First NBA game yesterday, got my feet wet, got to see how it feels. But this game, just confidence. Just had the confidence to be Ace Bailey, [be] who I am.”
