Season 45 Semifinals Game 2...Los Angeles at Dallas

Los Angeles 76, Dallas 65
Brody's return sparks Big One; series tied
DALLAS -- Dr. Marcus Brody celebrated his return to the Los Angeles lineup with a brilliant performance that spearheaded a 76-65 Big One road win, knotting up this Semifinal series and sending it to a sudden-death Game 3.

Brody and his running mate, Norman Conquest, combined for 45 points, as the L.A. visitors pulled away with a 25-8 second-quarter surge that they never came close to relinquishing.

The 6-1 point guard made sure the lead was protected, when, early in the third quarter he hit three consecutive treys on three offensive possessions for Los Angeles before sitting for a 33 time unit forced rest.

Although they lost, the home team Demons tied a long-standing playoff record for blocked shots by a team when they swatted away 14 enemy attempts. The record has stood alone since established in Season 6 by Charleston against Philadelphia.

The teams now return to the West Coast for the final, all-important contest.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
DR. MARCUS BRODY of Los Angeles made a storybook return from injury for the Big One, scoring a game-high 25 points and smoking his opposite, Bootlace Barnaby with 6 treys on 8 attempts. For the game, the third-year guard was 7 for 11 from the floor, with the first 6 of those 7 buckets coming from the great beyond. He was also 5 for 8 from the foul stripe, grabbed 3 rebounds, had 1 assist and led his team in blocked shots with 3.

Other 20-plus GVP performers
-- The other half of the outstanding guard tandem for Los Angeles, Norman Conquest, also dominated his man Bingo Bango, holding him to 9 points while stroking home 20 himself. Conquest also had 2 rebounds, topped his team in assists with 2 and had 1 steal.

-- Dallas big man Gotoo Grot scored 12 points, led the game in rebounds with 6, had 1 assist and 1 blocked shot in the loss.

-- 6-10 Dallas forward Egg Yolk Carpaccio did a little of everything for the Demons, scoring 11 points, pulling down 4 rebounds, getting 1 steal and blocking 3 shots. He also topped everyone in assists for the second game in a row, getting 4.

-- Hall of Fame Dallas forward Chip Battoe slapped away a game-high 7 shots (one shy of the playoff record) while scoring a team-high 15, adding 1 rebound and 1 assist.

NEXT UP: The deciding Semifinal Game 3 with Dave's teams Charleston and Oklahoma City on the Lariats' home court. Neither club has impressed so far in this series, but one is going to have to advance and be the punching bag against the winner of Dallas and Los Angeles. And who knows? The winner of this game could suddenly catch fire in the Finals.