Blazers cruise to 93-80 win over the Dallas Mavericks in Noah Vonleh’s debut

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Noah Vonleh played his first game in a Trail Blazers on Sunday evening, even though it’s Summer League. And his presence helped power the Blazers to their first win of the Las Vegas Summer League 93-88 over the Dallas Mavericks. Vonleh suffered an ankle injury during their summer league training camp, causing him to miss the first summer league game. He played 29 minutes, scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Vonleh was a featured part of Portland’s offensive attack, seemingly setting picks for Portland’s ball-handlers. Tim Frazier kept on doing a little bit of everything and playing the role of floor general to perfection. Frazier finished with 14 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Frazier has been Portland’s best player through two games, but the team was much improved offensively with Vonleh in the mix. His versatility caused for some match-up problems when the Blazers played him at center.  Hulking Dallas center Santam Singh was tasked with guarding him for stretches and one possession Vonleh blew past him for a dunk. Seeing Vonleh play well and make plays should be an encouraging sign for Blazers fans as we haven’t seen a whole lot of him. He kept his energy level high and rarely settled for bad shots. All-in-all, it was a very positive evening for Vonleh. Vonleh’s presence in combination with Frazier helped everybody else look better. Allen Crabbe’s inefficient chucking from last game gave way to him picking his spots in the offense with efficiency on Sunday. He led the Blazers with 24 points in the game, looking much more comfortable. 35 year old Keith Bogans got his first action of the 2015 summer league, 12 years after his last summer league. He played a little in both halves, showing his displeasure with the officiating a few times. Pat Connaughton looked great again, embracing his role in the offense and even getting a few more plays drawn up for him. His future is as a spot-up shooter with the Blazers, but the summer league squad ran some plays for him. He cashed an open three off an elevator doors set and also showed some friskiness off the dribble with a nice and-1 shortly after, though he missed the free-throw. Luis Montero didn’t get a look until late in the first half. He made a concerted effort to blend in with the offense and keep his spacing within the framework of Portland’s offense. He made a sweet touch pass to Crabbe in transition and also scored five points. Right now he looks more comfortable shooting off the dribble than in catch-and-shoot scenarios. The Blazers ran away with this game in the second half and were able to sit all of their big minute players for the last few minutes. The Blazers don’t play again until Tuesday when they take on the San Antonio Spurs in the Las Vegas LaMarcus Aldridge Bowl.