Oklahoma City 72, Dallas 70
Lariats end Dallas streak at 16
DALLAS -- The visiting Oklahoma City Lariats, riding the offense of rookie sensation guard Handsy Joe Potatoe and the newly discovered defensive prowess of forward Dreamy Ray Wilson, ended the record 16-game win streak of the two-time defending champion Dallas Demons 72-70.
Dallas trailed by 8 with half of the final quarter to go and appeared to be closing the gap to 2 with 7 ticks left when Wilson denied Battoe a down-low bucket that basically wrapped up the game.
Wilson, who is much-improved defensively since last season, came off the bench in the first half to thwart Battoe twice on scoring opportunities and earned a second-half start. He then proceeded to stop Battoe from scoring four more times in the second half, including the big stop near game's end...for a total of 12 points saved on Battoe in the game.
It was the first game for Oklahoma City as a member of the East Division.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Veteran Dallas shooting guard MEAT PANTS MASTERSON played an astonishing all-around game in defeat, leading his team in scoring with 23 points and swatting away a game-high 7 shots while grabbing 3 rebounds. Masterson, a late-bloomer in his eigth season, was 9 for 17 from the floor with 2 3-pointers in three attempts. He was 3 for 6 from the foul line. His game dominated his opponent, Hurricane Furrwizard.
Other 20-plus GVP performances
-- Oklahoma City's rookie point guard Handsy Joe Potatoe lived up to his No. 1 prime pick draft status in his debut, pumping in a game-high 25 points, including 6 buckets of the long-range variety. He added 1 rebound. The 6-5 rookie dominated his man Jolly Mon Singh.
-- Hall of Fame center J.J. Gargantuan put on an excellent show in his first game as a Demon, actually dominating last season's All-MBA center Chochky Galumpkus, tying Galumpkus for game-high in rebounds with 7, scoring 16 points, tying for team-lead with 3 assists, blocking 1 shot and snaring 1 steal. He held Galumpkus to just 10 points with solid D.
EAST DIVISION STANDINGS
1st -- Philadelphia 1-0 (points differential tie-breaker)
2nd -- Oklahoma City 1-0
3rd -- Dallas 0-1 (points differential tie-breaker)
4th -- Charleston 0-1 (points differential tie-breaker)
Last -- Milwaukee 0-1
Upcoming bracket...No. 2
-- FEATURED GAME: The cross-over contest between "the shoot-em-up kids" from San Jose at Philadelphia, both 1-0 teams.
-- Seattle and Los Angeles will battle again to close out their season series. The visiting Stampede downed The Big One by 15 points in the opener behind a 30-point game from Potatoes O'Gratin.
-- Sacramento gets the honor of christening the new Gillette stadium and expects to emerge with a 2-0 record after dusting the Humps in their season debut 72-49.
-- Charleston, which did not show much in its 8-point opening loss to Philly, travels to Dallas, where the pissed off two-time defending champions are licking their opening-day loss wounds and waiting to strike hard.
-- Milwaukee (0-1) travels to Oklahoma City (1-0) in another important East Division game which is kind of a must-win for the visitors, who are playing without injured star Lannigan Lord Hobo.
Early Season Power Rankings
1. Dallas Demons (0-1)...it will take more than one 2-point loss against a top team to get them off the top line. But they showed vulnerability.
2. San Jose Fighting Amigos (1-0)...got their big man (Hunk R. Down) and scoring mojo back.
3. Oklahoma City Lariats (1-0)...may have found the secret weapon to neutralize Battoe.
4. Sacramento River Dogs (1-0)...old Dogs may still have a few new tricks.
5. Seattle Stampede (1-0) ...impressed us early with easy win against Los Angeles, showing solid game.
6. Milwaukee Greyhounds (0-1) ...the addition of Oklahoma City to the East is not what this perennial .500 team needed. Nor did they need an injury to Lannigan Lord Hobo.
7. Philadelphia Phobia (1-0) ...Flailed their way to an opening day win against equally punch-less Charleston.
8. Los Angeles (0-1)...They have Dr. Marcus Brody, who puts them above the teams below them here.
9. Charleston Mountaineers (0-1) ... They could use Gillette back in the East to get a couple of wins.
10. Gillette Humps (0-1)...Well folks, if anyone looked like an 0-10 team in their opener, it was the Humps.
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