Detroit Amps: 50
Miami 305: 47
In a star-studded matchup that held 3x BIG3 MVP Joe Johnson and reigning MVP Michael Beasley at the center of it, both Detroit and Miami were looking to stay undefeated.
For a second straight week, Iso Joe carried the Amps from a scoring perspective and led his squad to their second win of the season. Johnson dropped 29 points before leaving the game late with a knee injury. The severity of it has yet to be identified.
Despite his absence, the rest of the team did what they needed to do. Jeremy Pargo hit some late game shots, Ray Nixon held his own defensively, and Shakur Juiston may have been the real MVP grabbing loose balls and extra offensive boards to keep possessions alive.
But Miami wouldn’t give it them easy.
Down eight at the half, the 305 duo of Beasley and Lance Stephenson got going. The two combined for 25 of the team’s 30 points in the second half and with their team down 36-27 late, they were the biggest catalysts of a 13-2 run to give Miami a lead.
Beasley finished with 17 points while Stephenson dropped a new BIG3 career-high 18 points.
Ultimately, Detroit got enough stops towards the end that included a late game steal by Nixon and a game-winning flush by Juiston to secure the victory.
Boston Ball Hogs: 50
DMV Trilogy: 42
The DMV got their first glimpse of their hometown Trilogy squad live in person but it wasn’t the results they were hoping for.
Not only were they without their head coach Stephen Jackson and led by assistant coach Vernon Maxwell, but Trilogy couldn’t find their offensive rhythm until late in the game.
On the flip side, after suffering a monumental collapse last week, Gary Payton’s Ball Hogs squad finished on a high note on the road to get their first victory of the season.
For the better part of the game, it was all Boston. At one point in time, the Ball Hogs had an 18-point lead in the second half in large part due to the play of Jonathon Simmons. Simmons finished with a team-high 18 points and added three steals while the Ball Hogs’ bench outscored Trilogy’s 15-3 for the game.
But the win didn’t come without some late game angst. The DMV responded down 18 with a 20-8 run in the second half to cut the lead to single digits. Behind some defensive stops, a few missed free throws by Boston, and a four-pointer from Franklin Session, the hometown team had a shot.
However, the run came late and Boston closed it out on a Simmons basket. Alongside Simmons, Deshawn Stephens added 12 points and Kevin Murphy had 10 points while the Ball Hogs moved to 1-1 on the season.
For Trilogy, Earl Clark finished with a 15-point double-double and Isaiah Austin dropped 13 points but Trilogy now sits in an 0-2 hole to kick off their 2025 campaign.
Chicago Triplets: 51
Houston Rig Hands: 34
This was a statement win from Chicago.
After letting one slip away in front of their home crowd, the Triplets reminded everyone just why this team can be so dangerous.
Houston trailed by just five points at the break but Chicago went on an 18-6 run to start the second half and basically ran away with the victory. It was a bit of a triple decker from the Triplets trio of Montrezl Harrell, Nasir Core, and Chris Allen.
Core started the game much like last week scoring seven of the first 13 points before Harrell started taking over. Harrell won Bring the Fire matchups and finished and-1s before handing the scoring reins over to Chris Allen. Allen had 14 points off the bench, including 11 points and three triples in the second half. The three combined for 45 of the 51 points.
The Rig Hands on the other hand (no pun intended) had a hard time finding their offense. While we saw their usual grit and grind style of play that led to easy putbacks from loose balls and offensive boards, Houston shot just 35 percent from the field and 2-10 from beyond the arc. Garlon Green led the way with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Chicago improved to 1-1 while the Rig Hands fell to 1-1 in the early going.
Los Angeles Riot: 50
Dallas Power: 45
What looked like another team moving to a 2-0 start, Los Angeles shut all of that hope down with a late game-run to give Dwight Howard and the Riot their first win of the season over the Dallas Power.
The Riot looked out of sorts throughout the first half and Power capitalized on a lot of those mistakes. Paul Millsap had 14 points and seven rebounds in the first half and Dallas held a 12-point advantage.
It was a game of runs from that point on. Los Angeles came out of the break storming back with an 11-3 run of their own. But that all came to a halt when Elijah Stewart was assessed a technical for illegally guarding Glen Rice Jr. before he entered the field of play. That led to Dallas countering with an 8-3 run and looked like that might have been the nail in the coffin.
However, the Riot never quit. They bounced back with a 13-4 run to eventually take the lead. After some back and forth action in the last 10 points of the game along with a late game technical, Los Angeles finally capped off their first win with a game-winning free throw.
Jordan Crawford was a major component in the win scoring 22 of his 28 points in the second half alone. Los Angeles is now back to .500 on the season at 1-1.
Despite 18 points from Rice Jr. and Millsap dropping 16 points and 14 rebounds, Power dropped their first in the loss column and are 1-1 after two games.
