Jazz’s Kyle Filipowski dominates again; has he been the Vegas MVP?

LAS VEGAS (KSL.com) — Kyle Filipowski flexed and screamed.

“That’s my (expletive)!” he yelled to the crowd.

More flexing. More screaming.

“That’s my (expletive)!” he repeated.

Suffice it say, the Utah Jazz big man was saying something to the effect of, “That’s my … really good play” — just a bit more colorfully.

And, well, he wasn’t wrong.

Filipowski snagged an offensive rebound and, after a quick reset, drove in for a thunderous two-handed dunk to tie the game in the closing seconds of overtime. It was a phenomenal sequence from the second-year big, who’s done plenty of flexing this summer.

He had 35 points on 11-of-19 shooting (5-of-8 from 3-point range) and added 11 rebounds Monday, continuing his stellar July.

The Las Vegas Summer League’s leading scorer? That would be Filipowski with 29.3 points per game. He’s making a strong case for MVP honors — and let the entire Thomas & Mack Center know it with his fiery outburst.

“That’s just my love for the game, to be honest,” he said. “I did it when I was a lot younger. I just had that fiery feeling inside of me. I guess sometimes I tend to try to be more calm in games; and when the time is right, I like to let it out.”

But Filipowski’s electrifying dunk came just a bit too early.

San Antonio’s Riley Minix hit an incredible turnaround jumper over John Tonje as time expired to lift the Spurs to a 93-91 overtime win over the Jazz in a summer classic.

The close was so wild, Tonje’s go-ahead 3-pointer with 36.8 seconds left in regulation felt like a distant memory by the time it ended. Utah’s second-round pick made his Jazz debut after missing the first few games of summer league with a sprained ankle. He had 16 points, three rebounds and three assists in a strong first outing.

“I’m feeling fine,” Tonje said. “I was able to play the whole game, so that was a plus. I feel like I’m back.”

But his seemingly game-winning moment was quickly overshadowed.

The final 30 seconds of regulation included a highlight reel help block from Isaiah Collier, a slick layup by Filipowski on an out-of-bounds play, and a game-tying bucket from San Antonio’s Dylan Harper.

Then somehow, the short overtime period topped even that.

It was the best game of the summer league so far — and maybe, just maybe, featured the league’s MVP (Filipowski and San Antonio’s David Jones-Garcia are both building strong cases).

For Filipowski, it was a bounce back after a relatively quiet 21-point outing Sunday against the Golden State Warriors.

“Trying to let the game come to me,” he said after putting up 10 points in the first quarter on Monday. “Last night, I got frustrated a lot, so trying to let the game come naturally again.”

That proved to be a good strategy — especially because so much looks natural to him right now.

He might already be the Jazz’s most versatile offensive player (and no, not just on the summer league roster). He can score inside, shoot from deep, and has a knack for reading the game and passing. And, as his game-tying dunk showed, he’s comfortable putting the ball on the floor, too.

The consistency with which he’s done all that this summer is encouraging — particularly given how other second-year players have struggled in Vegas. Will it all translate when things get real? Not even Filipowski knows that.

“Obviously, it’s different in summer league versus season, but just trying to be myself out there right now and however that translates to the season that’s how it’s going to be,” he said. “And I’m going to make the most of it in that way.”