Branham, Champagnie lead Spurs over Lakers despite big games from Christie, Hood-Schifino
Malaki Branham scored 32 points as the San Antonio Spurs’ summer league team improved to 2-0 in the California Classic with a 109-99 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Julian Champagnie added 28 points for San Antonio. The Spurs were again missing No. 1 overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama, who is expected to make his NBA Summer League debut in Las Vegas later this week.
The Lakers, meanwhile, received encouraging performances from a pair of young players hoping to contribute to their regular-season roster when the season starts in October.
Second-year guard Max Christie scored 25 points while making four 3-pointers along with four rebounds and four assists. Rookie Jalen Hood-Schifino scored 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting, but he had five turnovers to four assists.
Christie scored 20 points before the end of the third quarter while hitting three of his four 3-point shots. The 20-year-old combo guard is considered a promising defensive player, but faced questions about his long-distance shooting, which would be key in his ability to contribute to a Lakers roster that is built to contend in 2023-24.
Christie missed just one shot from distance Wednesday after going 1 of 3 against the Heat on Monday. Christie’s shooting was the knock on him coming out of Michigan State when the Lakers took him 35th overall in the 2022 draft, though he shot 41.9% on 62 attempts as a rookie. He played in 41 games for the Lakers and made three starts just before the All-Star break.
Hood-Schifino, who came out of Indiana as the 17th overall pick in June’s draft, is hoping to crack a crowded rotation that added Modesto native Gabe Vincent in free agency last week after reaching the NBA Finals with the Miami Heat. Maxwell Lewis, the 40th overall pick in last month’s draft, went 22 minutes without scoring. He registered one rebound, two blocks and three turnovers.
