LARIATS BLOW DOORS OFF CHAMPS IN PLAYOFF OPENER
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The best defensive team in the MBA held the defending champion Houston Iguanas to just 53 points on the way to a convincing 77-53 playoff-opening win in a game coached until halftime by Houston owner Tyler Masterson.
The Lariats had the most wins in the MBA this season (8-2) and played like the championship favorites they are.
Fourteen-year veteran substitute Tubes Mullard came off the bench to score a game-high 28 points in three quarters and All-MBA 10-year center Max Payne had 19 poinjts with 5 rebounds, 4 blocks, a steal and an assist. Mullard and Payne shared MVP of the Game honors.
Hall of Famer Hrundi V. Bakshi was in constant foul trouble for Houston and left the game with his fifth infraction early in the fourth quarter. Houston center Sanjay Patel, shut out by the defense of Payne, followed suit halfway through the fourth.
The bright spot for the Iguanas was forward Looky Whos, who registered his third triple-double of the season and fourth of his career, scoring 14 points, grabbing 5 rebounds and blocking 5 shots. He was one assist shy of the rare quadruple double, achieved only by two players in history, J.D.Jedreat, and, who else. Whos.
PLAYOFF NOTES: These are probably the four tightest teams in terms of talent we have seen in the playoffs in a long time. Although Oklahoma City may be the favorite, they were beaten twice in the regular season by San Jose (7-3. And San Jose (7-3) also bested Houston 89-69 in their only meeting this season. Houston (6-4 in regular season) split with Chicago (7-3).
Next Up: San Jose is back in the playoffs for the sixth time in the past seven seasons and travels to Chicago, which, after a 16-season dry spell, has now made the playoffs for the second consecutive season. The Gale is projected the meet Oklahoma City in the finals, but San Jose is on a four-game win streak, while Chicago finished the season with a 2-3 second half.
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