Well, it certainly isn’t lonely at the top. After Week 6, there’s a seven-way tie for first place in the BIG3, as seven teams have a 4-2 record. Let’s take a look at how we got here:
GAME 1: TRILOGY (4-2) DEFEATED 3’S COMPANY (2-4)
It’s Hezi God’s world, we’re just living in it. Ryan “Hezi God” Carter’s dazzling journey to BIG3 stardom continued on Sunday, as he put up a BIG3 Record 35 points on 13-21 shooting from the field and 3-5 shooting from 3-point range. It’s not an exaggeration to say Hezi God saved Trilogy’s hopes of a three-peat – now we just have to see if he can turn those hopes into a reality.
GAME 2: KILLER 3’S (4-2) DEFEATED TRIPLETS (4-2)
A fantastic game for Franklin “Frank Nitty” Session. In Week 5, the Killer 3’s suffered a loss after the Enemies found success packing the paint and daring Session to shoot jumpers. In Week 6, Session found his jumper and put up one of his best performances of the season. He had a game-high 28 points, shot 10-18 from the field and 4-7 from three, had seven rebounds and five assists, and only turned the ball over once.
On the other side of things, Joe Johnson and Jeremy Pargo combined to shoot just 13-36 from the floor and 0-8 from beyond the arc, which gave the resurgent Frank Nitty enough of an opening to hand the Triplets their first loss since Week 1.
GAME 3: ENEMIES (4-2) DEFEATED POWER (4-2)
Triplets and Power came into Week 6 as the only two one-loss teams in the league before losing in back-to-back games. The BIG3 is crazy, folks. Enemies continued their run of absolutely stellar play and got another fantastic performance out of Elijah Stewart. Stewart finished with a game-high 19 points on 8-11 shooting from the field and 3-6 shooting from 3-point range.
Crawford had “only” 15 points, but for the second week in a row had a good game passing the ball, finishing with four assists, and the Enemies seem to hit another level when the Crawford-to-Stewart connection propels the offense instead of just having Crawford or Quincy Miller working out of isolations.
For Power, the ball didn’t move the way it does when they’re at their best, and Glen Rice Jr.’s season-long shooting slump continued, as he finished shooting 6-19 from the floor and 2-8 from beyond the arc. The teams finished with eight assists each, which was a huge win for the Enemies, who rely on passing much less than Power does.
GAME 4: GHOST BALLERS (4-2) DEFEATED 3 HEADED MONSTERS (1-5)
3HM needed a win here to keep their season going, but the Ghost Ballers were simply too much for them. Mike Taylor has been unstoppable over the last few weeks, and he showed no signs of slowing down in this one. He finished with a team-high 18 points on 7-9 shooting from the field and 4-5 shooting from beyond the arc. The team’s big men had an easy time playing off of him and Jonathon Simmons, as Chris Johnson and Darnell Jackson finished with a combined 18 points on 8-10 shooting from the field.
3HM once again got some spectacular flashes out of Brandon Moss, who finished with a game-high 22 points, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Ghost Ballers, who simply shot the lights out from top to bottom and brought 3HM’s season to an early end.
GAME 5: BALL HOGS (4-2) DEFEATED BIVOUAC (2-4)
When Garlon and Gerald Green don’t shoot well, Bivouac struggles. In Week 6, the brothers combined to shoot 12-39 from the field and 2-12 from three-point range, and the team failed to get a win.
On the Ball Hogs’ side of things, Leandro Barbosa had eight assists, which was twice as much as the entire Bivouac squad was able to put up. Jodie Meeks relentlessly hunted the rim and finished with a game-high 16 points on 7-11 shooting from the field. DaJuan Summers had his second great outside shooting performance in a row, as he made four of the five three-pointers he took.
Bivouac was able to take advantage of the Ball Hogs’ commitment to going small, as they finished with a 13-3 advantage on the offensive glass, but the Ball Hogs’ speed and playmaking were just too much for a Bivouac team that often looked stagnant.
GAME 6: ALIENS (1-5) DEFEATED TRI STATE (2-4)
It took them until their last game of the season, but the Aliens were finally able to get themselves a win. Without Janis Timma in the lineup for the Aliens, the offense ran through Dusan Bulut, who had a long-overdue breakout game. He was finally able to snap himself out of his season-long slump, and finished with a game-high 26 points on 10-17 shooting from the field and 2-4 shooting from beyond the arc.
Tri State struggled to create offense without Jason Richardson in the lineup, and settled for a lot of tough jumpers that wouldn’t fall. Leading scorer Justin Dentmon shot just 6-20 from the floor and 1-7 from the three point line, and Tri State had just one assist all game.
The Aliens were able to escape with the 50-48 win after Kostja Mushidi drew a foul and hit the game-winning free throw, and the Aliens were able to end what was definitely a rough season for them on a positive note.