PHILADELPHIA 72, DALLAS 62
PHILLY SLAMS DOOR ON DALLAS COMEBACK
PHILADELPHIA -- The MBA's best defense stopped the league's top scoring team cold in the fourth quarter, holding the six-time-defending champion Dallas Demons to just 9 points in a huge 72-62 Game 1 Philadelphia victory to start the Season 58 Finals.
The visiting Demons, trailing and struggling to score for the entire first half, seemed to find their offense in the third quarter, scoring 20 points to take a 53-51 lead going into the last stanza before the Phobia turned their water all the way off.
That kind of defensive display has been present all season for Philly, who held opponents to just 65.3 points per game during the regular season and squashed Sacramento's output in the SemiFinals to 65 per contest. Dallas entered the Finals with an 8-game winning streak and the 11th best team scoring numbers of all time, but were treated just as rudely by Philadelphia, which extended its own win streak to 7 with this victory.
Dallas' Hall of Fame guard, Juzan Djinn, had perhaps the roughest go of it offensively, scoring just 6 points on 2 of 9 shooting.
MBA fans were treated to a battle royale at the center post, where two of the league's top pivots locked horns, both having brilliant games.
This was just the third time in history that these two franchises have met in the Finals. The other two times were way back in Seasons 22, with a repeat in Season 23...both won by Philadelphia.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
30 GVP...Dallas center POOP-RUPIAH 3000 was the prize of the Season 58 MBA draft, and is largely responsible for the Demons returning to the Finals despite the champs losing two Hall of Fame starters to retirement. Last season's Playoff MVP for Oklahoma City was fairly pedestian in the SemiFinals win against Los Angeles, but the All-MBA center rose to the occasion against the best defender in the MBA, Blob Dylan. The 6-9, fourth-year 3000 used 5 slam dunks on the way to a 16-point effort against Dylan, sparking the third-quarter rally that gave his club the lead. 3000 was 7 for 10 from the floor, 2 for 2 from the foul line, grabbed a game-high 9 boards, registered a game-high 2 thefts, assisted twice and blocked 1 shot.
Other 20-plus GVP perfomers
26 GVP...Philadelphia center Blob Dylan...19 points...4 rebounds...3 blocked shots.
25 GVP...Philadelphia point guard Tut Ankhamun...19 points...3 rebounds...3 assists.
23 GVP...Philadelphia's retiring shooting guard Itstha Bishop...14 points...5 rebounds...4 assists.
21 GVP...Dallas point guard Mini Carfartt...18 points...2 rebounds...1 assist.
21 GVP...Dallas power forward Nick Kenpoop...14 points...5 rebounds...1 assist...1 steal.
NEXT UP: The teams travel to Dallas, where the champion Demons need a win on their home court to even up this best of 5 Finals.
No comments:
Post a Comment