DALLAS 69, LOS ANGELES 66
DEMONS RETURN TO FINALS
LOS ANGELES -- The five-time-defending champs from Dallas are back in the MBA Finals with a chance to become the first team in league history to win six consecutive titles.
They did so in a SemiFinals that saw them blow away a worthy Los Angeles team, then demonstrate their capability of coming up huge in a close encounter as they swept their way past The Big One with a 69-66 Game 2 triumph.
This was a crazy game that featured a first half where neither club could get untracked; partly due to the defense of their opponent and partly because of just plain bad shooting. Dallas maintained the lead throughout, but Los Angeles never trailed in the contest by more than 8 points.
Both offenses picked up the scoring pace considerably in the second half, but Dallas remained ahead by 8 going into the final stanza.
The home team Big One got to within two points of the visitors on three occasions down the home stretch before Dallas' Hall of Fame guard Juzan Djinn, having a horrid shooting night, rose up at the 6 time unit mark and buried his only trey of the game, which turned out to be the vanquishing blow.
Rumpy Pumpy Lewis of Los Angeles scored immediately to reduce the lead from 5 to 3. But by the time L.A. got the ball back, their only hope was a full court desperation attempt by Vicious Hick that was just off the mark.
Dallas showed its depth in this win, with Mini Carfartt suffering a rest-of-game injury early in the third quarter. Wrinkly Tinkly Toe, brother of Pinky Toe on Los Angeles, stepped in and scored 7 points, and when he went out on a forced rest, 15-season veteran Hurricane Furrwizard spelled him with an immediate 3-pointer, leading to 8 important points in the second half of the third quarter.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
32 GVP...Former Demon VICIOUS HICK did his best to derail his old team's championship chances, coming up with the fifth Triple-Double of his Hall of Fame career, but it was not to be. The Los Angeles point guard scored zero points, taking just four shots in the first half, but turned on the juice for 10 in the third quarter on the way to a game-high (tied) 16 points. Hick did contribute defensively, stopping Carfartt twice and even frustrating Biggus Dickus out of a basket. The 6-2 Hick was a monster on the boards throughout, pulling down a game-high 11. For the game he was 6 for 12 from the floor, including 3 treys in 4 tries and going 1 for 1 at the foul line. He also handed out a game-high 5 assists in the losing effort.
Other 20-plus GVP performers
29 GVP...Regular season MVP, Dallas' retiring Hall of Fame center Biggus Dickus...14 points...8 rebounds...3 blocked shots...2 steals...2 assists.
23 GVP...Hall of Fame Dallas guard Juzan Djinn...14 points...4 rebounds...3 assists...2 blocked shots.
23 GVP...Los Angeles retiring center Chat Bot...12 points (3 slams)...5 rebounds...4 blocked shots...2 assists.
20 GVP...Los Angeles shooting guard Pinky Toe...16 points...2 rebounds...2 assists.
NEXT UP: Seattle faces elimination on the road as it travels to Oklahoma City. These two teams have split two one-point games this season. It doesn't get any closer than that.
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