Markelle Fultz shines as 76ers fall to the Utah Jazz

Markelle Fultz late surge wasn’t enough to push the 76ers past the Utah Jazz tonight in the second game of Summer League.

All aboard the Markelle Fultz hype train. Sure, Fultz has played in two Summer League games so far in his NBA career, but whats not to love? Fultz pulled the 76ers out of a double-digit deficit in the second half to put the Sixers in the opportunity for the win. The Jazz ultimately won the game 100-94 but the story of the night was Fultz. Fultz finished with 23 points on 9 of 16 shooting. He also shot 50% from beyond the arc, going 4 of 8 all while grabbing 5 rebounds and dropping 5 dimes.

The Sixers spotted the Jazz a 14 point leading coming in to the 4th quarter with an impressive outing from two Jazz youngsters. Rookie first round pick Donovan Mitchell finished with 15 points and oft-injured Donte Exum notched a double-double with 26 points and 10 assists.

Exum is about to enter his fourth NBA season (third if you include his ACL injury that kept him out for a year), so the Utah coaching staff will challenge him to be the best player on the floor this Summer League.

Tonight also gave 76ers fans its first opportunity to see one of their 2016 1st round picks. Furkan Korkmaz started the game tonight after spending last season at Anadolu Efes, a Turkish professional basketball team based in Istanbul, Turkey.

Korkmaz finished with just 3 points in 16 minutes. Korkmaz is another guard that will battle for minutes in his rookie NBA season, he will work on picking up the American game with minimal expectations in his first NBA season.

The Sixers couldn’t finish the comeback for the second consecutive game, as Fultz put the team on his back, scoring 13 of his 23 points in the 4th. Fultz showcased his complete offensive game once again, including NBA three-point range off the dribble.

Next: Fultz looks to show improvement

Sixers fans wont have to wait long to see Fultz and the rest of the squad as the play the Spurs tomorrow. Markelle has not disappointed and has looked awesome on the court. Sixers fans will hope the rest of the team can pick up their play tomorrow capture their first summer league win.