Philadelphia 79, San Jose 77
Phobia wiggles off Amigos' hook, advances to finals
SAN JOSE -- The better team won, that much is apparent.
After ceding control to the home team Fighting Amigos for the first three quarters of the game, the defending champions showed their pedigree with a 30-point fourth, overcoming an 11-point deficit to win 79-77.
Philadelphia now awaits the winner of Sacramento vs. Dallas to see who their Finals opponent will be, with the Phobia holding home team advantage.
San Jose played brilliantly for three quarters, and, truth be told, shot an excellent 61.5 percent for the game. But the Phobia's relentless defensive pressure finally paid dividends in the fourth quarter, when the Fighting Amigos began yielding to the duress and started turning the ball over. Early in the fourth, multiple steals, throw-aways and charges saw an 11-point lead shrink to a 1-point advantage within 20 time units. The Phobia took their first lead of the game with 38 time units remaining on a trey by Sloppy Dollop.
San Jose wrested back the advantage with 33 left, then there were multiple ties until 18 ticks remained, when Philly took a 2-point lead.
The Phobia led 77-75 with 10 ticks left when Philly center, Carga Larga, operating down low, zipped one to teammate Colquitt Croix who popped in a clutch medium jumper that turned out to be the game winner.
Hunk R. Down's good short jumper was force-missed by Larga in a key defensive play, with the Phobia's Akbar Zagobia swooping in for the rebound.
A last time-unit dunk by Down was too little, too late.
The game marked the end of the YourMajesty Lumpkins-Dayshotta Leo era of success for San Jose, to say nothing of the third San Jose retiree, Pippi Pippistrelli.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
HUNK R. DOWN, the superb 7-foot center for San Jose, did everything humanly possible to get a victory for the Fighting Amigos in this game. He led everyone in scoring with 25 points (on the heels of an 18-point first game) and cleared the backboards for a game-high 7 rebounds, blocking 2 shots and dishing out 2 assists. He was 12 for 14 from the floor, with 4 slams, and 1 for 2 from the foul line. The fifth-year center got his team off on the right foot, getting 10 points and 5 rebounds in the first quarter alone. He kept them going with 3 consecutive medium jump shots in the third quarter. None of it, however, was enough.
Other 20-plus GVP performers
-- Colquitt Croix of Philadelphia led the fourth-quarter charge on the way to a 21-point game that led his victorious team in scoring. The Hall of Fame guard again led everyone in assists with 5, came up with a big steal during the furious comeback and canned what turned out to be the winning bucket.
-- Philadelphia center Carga Larga went at it hammer and tong with POG Hunk R. Down, almost matching him basket for basket with a 20-point performance that included a number of unstoppable moves around the basket. The 6-11, fourth-year man also grabbed 3 rebounds, dished 3 assists, had an important steal and an even more-important force-miss on Down near game's end.
-- Forward Egg Yolk Carpaccio scored just 9 points, but imposed his 6-10 frame mightily for San Jose, getting 6 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 2 assists.
NEXT UP: Sacramento at Dallas for Game 2 in the other Semifinal series. The River Dogs, winners of Game 1, look to wrap up the other Finals position with a road victory, but the Demons and MVP Chip Battoe will have something to say about that.
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