Johnny Furphy’s spectacular dunks, Kam Jones’ impact highlight Pacers’ Summer League loss

Johnny Furphy’s poster dunk highlighted a breakout performance, Kam Jones continued his rise with 20 points, and the NBA’s new Tissot shot clocks have made their debut at Summer League.

The matchup of the game (and future): Matas Buzelis and Johnny Furphy)

LAS VEGAS — Monday of Summer League is one of my favorites each year. Games start later in the day, and nine times out of 10, the Pacers are in the first game.

This year, they opened the schedule at Cox Pavilion, which allowed both teams a longer, more natural warmup session. Instead of the usual 10 minutes, they were out there for more than 45.

In a time when this event has become increasingly commercialized — with a DJ on the concourse and fans participating in games like pop-a-shot — I appreciate the value of true basketball. This was as close as we’ll get to the old days in Orlando, when attendance was limited to teams, media, and player agents.

It was only about basketball. Now, there’s an in-game emcee, promotion teams entertaining during timeouts, autograph sessions postgame, and a lot more.

After enjoying Sunday off, the Summer Pacers resumed action at 3 p.m. local time against a familiar foe in the Chicago Bulls — another division opponent.