O.J. Mayo played mostly point guard and struggled early before scoring 14 points in the second half as he and the Memphis Grizzlies lost to the Los Angeles Clippers 82-74 in their NBA Summer League finale Wednesday night.
The Grizzlies other point guards, Mike Conley Jr. and Javaris Crittenton were given the day off, so Mayo ran the show. He finished with 20 points.
He scored 11 in the fourth quarter to help Memphis erase a 10-point deficit and tie the game at 70 with 3:52 to play.
But the Clippers scored the next six points and closed the game on a 12-4 run.
"It don't matter what position I play,"
said Mayo, the third overall pick in the draft. "I just want to get better at both of them."
Mayo missed his first four shots and didn't score until he converted a running layup with 5:50 to play in the second quarter. He finished with six first-half points in 15 minutes.
Mayo's woes continued in the third quarter as he missed three straight foul shots and threw the ball out of bounds on a fast break.
Memphis coach Marc Iavaroni didn't want to classify Mayo as a point guard or shooting guard, opting to call him a "creative scorer."
"I'm not a numbers guy,"
Iavaroni said. "He needs to be a more versatile player and work at other positions. He showed he's willing to take the big shot and he likes to have the ball in his hands."
Mayo averaged a team-best 22.8 points in five summer league games. He also finished with 24 turnovers.
"The lottery is over with. The draft is over with,"
said Mayo, who added five assists against the Clippers. "I just want to get better like everyone else."
Darrell Arthur, the Grizzlies' other first-round selection, had 12 points and five rebounds. Memphis closed the league with a pair of defeats to finish 2-3.
Marcus Williams led the Clippers with a game-high 23 points and Al Thornton added 20.
