DEMONS RIDE KILLER Bs TO CONVINCING WIN; TIE SERIES
DALLAS -- The high-powered offense of the Dallas Demons soundly trumped the usually stingy defense of the Sacramento River Dogs as the home team tied up the best of three Semifinals with an 87-71 triumph.
Fourth-year Dallas shooting guard Bingo Bang upped the ante from his 18-point first-game performance, potting a game-high 28. League MVP Chip "the Crip" Battoe, after a sub-par performance in the Game 1 loss, ratcheted it up for his first triple-double of Season 44. And the supporting cast was more than adequate, setting up a win-or-go-home showdown game back in Sacramento.
The game was pretty much decided near the end of the first half. Coming off a putrid first quarter the River Dogs worked their way back to within 2 points of the leaders, when it all fell apart. Bango went off for two consecutive treys and Battoe was blocking shots and recording thefts. By the time halftime came around, the nine-point advantage that had started the quarter was stretched to 16, which turned out to be the final margin of victory.
It could have been worse had Sacramento not prevented 14 points with some pretty good defense, but Dallas was just on fire.
The fourth quarter saw the bad blood of frustration rear its ugly head as Sacramento's Pap Smearz lit into the man he was up against all game, Dallas' Al A. Orden, following a rebound skirmish, with Smearz getting the better of the fracas, but being booted out of the game.
Smearz later said that Orden was swearing at him in some foreign language, but Orden claims that he was only greeting Smearz in the tradition of his country.
"I just said 'At your command,' in my native tongue," said Orden. "And he clocked me."
POINTS PREVENTED BY QUARTERS
Sacramento 2 - 4 - 4 - 4 Total=14
Dallas.....4 - 0 - 4 - 2 Total=10
TOP PLAYERS IN POINTS PREVENTED
1. Chip Battoe, Dallas 8
2. Pap Smearz, Sacramento 6
PLAYER OF GAME
The last time Dallas two guard BINGO BANGO was in the playoffs two seasons ago, he walked away with the Playoff MVP award, despite being on a losing team. The two games he's put together in this Semifinals series shows that the 6-4, fourth-year man loves the post-season. In this game he pumped in 28 points on 10 of 15 shooting, continuing the 66.7 percent marksmanship he established in Game 1. Four of those 10 buckets came from long range (4 for 6) and he was a perfect 4 for 4 from the foul stripe. Always a fine rebounder, Bango pulled down 5 boards and dished out 3 assists as he rode roughshod over Potus Obama, who fouled out trying to guard him.
Other 20-plus GVP performers
-- Second-year center Gotoo Grot has been outstanding in his two games against the All-MBA center Tree Fiddy of Sacramento. The league's biggest big man scored 18 points, tied for game-high in rebounds with 6, had 1 block and 1 assist in the victory.
-- The MBA's MVP two years running, Chip Battoe of Dallas settled into magnificence after his initial playoff funk in Game 1. Battoe delivered what he failed to do during the regular season, a triple-double, the fifth of his two-season career. The 14 points he scored were the least impressive of his statistics. The 6-8 Battoe tied for game-high in rebounds with 6, registered the only three thefts in the contest, negated a game-high 8 points all by himself and came within one of tying a playoff record for blocked shots with 7 swat-aways. The record is 8, established by Jethro Jedreat of Charleston against Philadelphia in Season 8 and matched in Season 28 by Hall of Fame center Max Payne, playing for Dallas against Charleston.
-- Sacramento's rookie point guard "Great" Gruncle Terry, the POG of Game 1, was damned good again in Game 2. He scored 17 points, grabbed 3 rebounds and distributed a game-high 5 assists for the second game in a row, pretty much overshadowing veteran Bootlace Barnaby, who took on the assignment of reigning in the River Dog rookie.
-- Going up against the league's top defender and scoring 19 points in consecutive games is a pretty good trick, and one accomplished by Sacramento's fine small forward Doo-rag Dripp. Dripp led his team in scoring, snagged 4 rebounds and had 1 assist despite the intimidating presence of Chip Battoe, who hounded his every move.
NEXT UP: The deciding Game 3, with Dallas traveling back to Sacramento to see which of these teams will tangle with the overall favorite and defending champion Philadelphia Phobia in the Finals.
Score sheet note: I tried something different here...using a red pen to mark everything in the fourth quarter.
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