Thursday, September 23, 2021

Featured Game No. 3...Charleston at Dallas

 DALLAS 79, CHARLESTON 76

TREYS ABOUND AS DEMONS DELIVER

DALLAS -- The Dallas Demons (now 3-0) continue to stupify the NBA world as they delivered a 79-76 win over visiting Charleston (now 2-1) in a battle of unbeatens that witnessed one roundhouse punch after another both offensively and defensively.

Charleston lost its offensive center to injury for the game in the second as Seven Castanza went down.

This barn-burner featured 36 total 3-point attempts, with half that number settling into the bottom of the nets, twice in back-to-back-to-back succession. Neither team led by more than 4 points the entire game, and that margin was only achieved in the waning moments, which went thusly:

-- Mister Methane of Charleston buries one of his 7 3-pointers, gets fouled and converts the free throw to tie the game 73-73 with 9 ticks left

-- On the very next possession, Dallas guard Itsaka Numdrum cans his 5th 3-pointer and is fouled by Methane. He sinks the throw and the lead goes back to 4 in favor of Dallas, 77-73 with 8 left. That was a killer.

-- Sheetrock Hudson of Charleston then tries a trey on the next time unit, misses, but gets his own rebound, goes up and misses the shot but is fouled in the act. He misses the first and makes the second. It is now Dallas 77, Charleston 74 with 5 left.

-- Demons center Chochky Galumpkus hits a short jumper with 2 left to make it 79-74, sealing the deal.

-- Frog Morton of Charleston, absent the entire game, makes a meaningless bucket as time runs out. 79-76 Dallas.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Charleston shooting guard MISTER METHANE demonstrated his potent offensiveness in this contest, going off for a game-high 34 points as he bombed away for 7 3-pointers in 15 attempts on a 11 for 20 shooting night. The fifth-year guard, who came to Charleston as a prime pick free agent from San Jose, was also 5 for 5 from the foul line. He also pulled down 3 rebounds. His was the highest scoring game of the season thus far.

Other 20-plus GVP performers
-- Third-year guard Itsaka Numdrum of Dallas, finally getting his chance to shine in his third season, had a fantastic game, scoring 19 points and bombing away for for 5 treys in 6 attempts. The 6-4 guard also pulled down 6 rebounds, stole a game-high 2 passes, had 2 assists and blocked 1 shot.

-- New Dallas center Chochky Galumpkus continues to star for the undefeated Demons. In this game he dominated the 7-2 Papa Popcorn, scoring 18 points and tying for game-high in rebounds with 9 while adding a blocked shot. 

-- Longtime Demons forward Al A. Orden came up huge in this big win, getting a team-high 22 points and snaring 6 rebounds, a few of those being key offensive boards and putbacks that were back-breakers for Charleston. He absolutely out-played last season's All-MBA forward Frog Morton.

-- 6-9 third-year forward Sheetrock Hudson, obtained in a trade by Charleston, continues to pay dividends for the Mountaineers. Hudson destroyed Bemsha Swing with 22 points while pulling down a game-high (tied) 9 rebounds.


East Division Standings
1st -- Dallas 3-0 (up from 2nd) (3-game winning streak)
2nd -- Charleston 2-1 (down from 1st) (division wins tie-breaker)
3rd -- Philadelphia 2-1 (up from 4th)
4th -- Milwaukee 1-2 (down from 3rd) (division wins tie-breaker_
Last -- Oklahoma City 1-2 (unchanged)

Next Bracket (No. 4)
-- Sacramento (2-1) at Milwaukee (1-2) in a cross-over rematch of last season's Finals...no Fiddy yet
-- Oklahoma City (1-2) at Philadelphia (2-1) in another intriguing East Division game
-- FEATURED GAME: Let's do it again as Charleston hosts Dallas in an immediate rematch
-- Gillette (0-3) at Seattle (3-0)...the surprising Stampede could be 4-0 if they can avoid the upset
-- San Jose (0-3) at Los Angeles (1-2)...the drowning Amigos looking for a life preserver...is this it?

Power Rankings
At this point there are seven pretty good looking teams but no one dominant club. Maybe eight if San Jose can ever get going. Anyway, here's my first ranking.

1. Charleston
2. Sacramento
3. Milwaukee
4. Seattle
5. Dallas
6. Philadelphia
7. Oklahoma City
8. San Jose
9. Los Angeles
10. Gillette




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