LA Riot: 50
Houston Rig Hands: 46
Los Angeles is starting to turn a corner. After a loss to open the year, the Riot have made it two wins in a row following their 50-46 victory over the Houston Rig Hands.
The week kicked off with Dwight Howard and Corey Brewer trading blows. Howard scored eight of the Riot’s first 11 points while Brewer put up nine of the Rig Hands’ first 14 points.
There was a ton of efficient shot making throughout the game, but Houston looked like they were going to easily pull away after kicking off the second half with a 15-4 run to open up the game.
Corey Brewer was knocking down just about every shot he took but everything changed for LA when he was subbed out. Down 41-32, Wesley Johnson stroked a 4-pointer and a trey ball to rattle off seven straight points. That was the catalyst that started an 11-0 run to give the Riot a late lead and ultimately their second win of the year.
Howard and Johnson both had career-highs with 17 points and 15 points, respectively. Jordan Crawford added 10 points and seven assists as the Riot now sit at 2-1.
For Houston, Brewer scored 23 points on 11-17 shooting but dropped their second straight game of the season as they moved to 1-2 this summer.
Miami 305: 50
Boston Ball Hogs: 31
Miami hosted their first ever home game and they did not disappoint.
The 305 put on an absolute clinic for the hometown crowd and walked away with a 50-31 victory over the Boston Ball Hogs.
Boston jumped out to an early 8-4 lead but Miami followed up with a 15-2 run and never looked back. Michael Beasley and Lance Stephenson combined for 19 of the 25 first half points and only got better in the second half.
The craziest sequence of the season might have been when Stephenson snatched Jonathon Simmons ankles, missed the shot, stole the ball back, and hit a step-back midrange jumper to go up 20 on Boston. Beasley went on to hit a game-winning 4-pointer to seal a 25-4 run and ultimately, the win.
Beasley finished with 22 points while Stephenson had 12 points in his first career start.
The lone bright spot for the Ball Hogs came at the hands of Simmons, who dropped 19 points off the bench on 7-8 shooting.
The 305 became the first home team to win in front of their fans this season as they moved to 2-1 on the season. Boston on the other hand fell to 1-2 as they head home following the bye week.
Dallas Power: 51
Detroit Amps: 30
It always looked like an uphill battle for Detroit with the absence of the three-time MVP Joe Johnson but after last week’s finish, there was a recipe in place on how to get it done.
However, Dallas went off script, shut down that game plan, and got their second win of the season beating the Amps 51-30 in Miami.
Initially, everything was going right for George Gervin’s squad. The Amps got off to a 12-4 start as Jeremy Pargo and Darnell Jackson knocked down their first few shots. But Dallas answered back with a 19-2 run of their own anchored by Paul Millsap. Millsap looked like his old self pre-injury and dropped all 13 of his points in the first half.
In the second half it was all Dallas. Detroit struggled with self-inflicted turnovers and Power capitalized with a 9-2 run to start the half. They outscored the Amps 26-9 after the break.
Power had three guys finish in double-digits, including Glen Rice Jr. who dropped a game-high 22 points to go along with three steals. Millsap had the aforementioned 13 and Greg Monroe added 12 points.
Jeremy Pargo had his best game of the season finishing with 18 points but Detroit shot just 31 percent from the field and had 10 turnovers.
Both teams head into the bye week at 2-1. The positive takeaway for the Amps is that Iso Joe is expected back in Week 5.
Chicago Triplets: 51
DMV Trilogy: 48
In a must win, Chicago knew that they were going to get everything and then some from a winless DMV squad.
At the end of the game though, the Triplets withstood every punch and improved to 2-1 on the season with a 51-48 victory.
Everyone knows basketball is a game of runs, but this one was the epitome of that.
For the first quarter of the game, it looked like Montrezl Harrell might be looking to break the record for most points in a single-game. Harrell had the first 13 points for the Triplets as he continued to build his case for Rookie of the Year.
But the Trilogy guards responded to every Trez bucket. Franklin Session and Mike Taylor had 16 of the 22 first half points as the DMV found some success with their small lineup.
However, it was the Triplets who went into the break with the lead and opened the door in the second half, reeling off nine straight out of halftime. The DMV wouldn’t go down without a fight though. Taylor hit jumper after jumper to kickstart a 13-2 run and cut the lead to just one.
But eventually, the size was too much. The Triplets grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Trilogy by 17 boards. That led to some extra opportunities late down the stretch despite some missed free throws.
Harrell finished with 26 points – the most in all of the BIG3 during Week 3. Nasir Core recorded his first BIG3 double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Taylor had his best game of the season scoring 20 points while hitting four 3-pointers. Franklin Session added 12 points and seven assists and Earl Clark had his second straight double-double.
That being said, Trilogy now sits in an 0-3 hole for the second straight season and needs to win every game to even have a chance at the playoffs.
