Fil-Am Green outduels top pick Cunningham in Summer League clash

Jalen Green (right) and Cade Cunningham went back and forth in their duel. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Filipino-American guard Jalen Green continued his stellar run in the ongoing NBA Summer League after outdueling the NBA Rookie Draft’s no. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham.

Green once again led the Houston Rockets to a huge victory over Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons, 111-91 and scored 25 points off 6/11 shooting from the field.

What may be the most-anticipated clash of the summer league between Cunningham and Green – the first two picks in the draft, respectively – surely didn’t disappoint the fans who attended.

Despite the loss, Cunningham still hooped and filled the stat sheets with 20 points, four rebounds, three steals, and two assists.

Green however was just too much and still carried the momentum he had from his hot-shooting against the Cleveland Cavaliers in their debut game.

Highlights filled the arena during the second and the third quarter as Cunningham showed off his impressive court awareness and ball-handling skills while Green came back with his smooth shooting stroke – connecting on three out of five tries from the three-point area.

Turkish big man Alperen Sengun backstopped Green with a dominant performance and grabbed eight rebounds and scored 21 points off 8/14 shooting from the field.

With the victory, Green and the Rockets are now 2-0 in the win-loss column and will be preparing for a huge battle against the tough Toronto Raptors team.