The second round of matches in the Elite 1 Caribbean Basketball Winter League began as scheduled at 6:00 pm on Wednesday at the National Arena to a very involved and noisy set of spectators, with defending champion Horizon getting the better of the Waves and Storm defeating Rivers in contrasting fashion.
Horizon continued its winning ways and is now the sole leader with two wins after two rounds. They were pressured by the Waves who lead the first two quarters 24-16 and 37-34 and well into the third quarter before drawing level 54 a piece, and then inching past them with 4:42 to go in the fourth quarter and take the match 86-79 in a ding dong battle between the teams.
The top performers for Horizon were MVP for the previous competition Bobby Gray (22 points), Rasheed Maynard (17 points) and Nicholai Brown (11 points).
Cleon Morgan, coach of Horizon was pleased with the result "we started out slow compared to the previous game but we had a strategy even though the opponents were leading but the objective was to chip it little by little as we go along. Going into the third quarter we were also down but we started to chip it. We adjusted the defense a little, it worked for us and so we were able to pull off a victory today (Wednesday)."
The Waves came into the match on a high from its win against the Rivers in the first round. They were quick on the court with some smart plays but were eventually pegged back by Horizon. Waves' top scorers were Cameron Burhannan (40 points), Marin Dixon Green (14 points) and Lushane Wilson (10 points).
The other match-up pitched the Rivers against the Storm. They were looking for their first win, having both lost to Waves and Horizon respectively in the first round. The Storm came out blazing with a 35/7 first quarter but the Rivers outscored them 37-19 in the second quarter to close out the half at 44-54. The Storm re-grouped in the third quarter to extend their lead to 17 and end the quarter 79-62 in their favor after allowing the Rivers to come within three points in the quarter. The Rivers made a run 33-24 again in the fourth quarter but could not catch the Storm who posted 102 for the win to Rivers' 96.
The Storm's Brandon "BDot" Armstrong (31 points), Jayrn Johnson (25 points), Da'Rell Domine (17 points) and Roshane O'Brian (14 points) were the top scorers, while Ricky Shaford (27 points), Anthony Ottley (27 points) and Tre Brewer (25 points) were the main contributors the Rivers' score.
According to the Storm's coach Oneil Brown who spoke after the match, "I feel great. After the first game I must show respect to the guys who came back after the first game loss. They showed character and come out here and changed the way they played. This is a pro league, this is what pro teams do. We made adjustments and we changed the entire thing yesterday at practice because the first game did not work. We came out here with a plan and my team executed the plan and I am grateful for the victory." He credited top scorer BDot and Johnson and the entire team who stepped up their performance, for winning the match.
The four-team competition roster boasts overseas based pros from the USA, Canada and Barbados and fifty percent Jamaican amateurs.
The next set of matches on the four-team schedule will see Horizon taking on the winless Rivers while Storm will battle Waves on Saturday at the National Arena. The first match is scheduled for start at 6:00 pm while the second match will start at 8:00 pm.
'My best ATO of the year!' – Kerr jokes as Mavericks fume over Warriors' uncontested dunk
Steve Kerr was amused by the flashpoint in the Golden State Warriors' 127-125 win over the Dallas Mavericks that had their opponents plotting a protest.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban complained of the "worst officiating non-call mistake possibly in the history of the NBA", but Warriors coach Kerr was confident there was nothing amiss.
The Mavericks took a timeout late in the third quarter and believed they had possession of the ball, asserting they were told as much by the game officials.
What transpired was a referee call that led to Warriors center Kevon Looney scoring an uncontested dunk from a Jordan Poole inbound pass to make it 90-87 with 1:56 left in the third.
The Dallas players were not in position, leading to protests from Cuban and coach Jason Kidd, but the dunk stood.
Kerr teasingly said it was his season's standout ATO – after timeout.
"Number one, it was my best ATO of the year. It worked brilliantly, just the way we got organised and confused them," he said.
More seriously, he added: "I had to stop. When I saw them at the other end, I had to stop and think, 'Isn't this our basket?', because I had drawn up a play for an out-of-bounds [play] underneath, a baseline out-of-bounds.
"When they were down at the other end I had to stop and think, 'Is this right?'.
"I don't know what happened. You'd have to ask their side. I thought it was pretty clear that it was our ball and that's why I was drawing up a play out-of-bounds on the baseline.
"But they all lined up at the other end. I guess they assumed it was their ball."
Looney, who benefitted from the confusion, said: "I didn't know what was going on. I'm just glad JP passed to me because I needed that to get to my double-double."
'This is what movies is made of' – Towns euphoric at dramatic Timberwolves return
Karl-Anthony Towns marked his return to action with a Hollywood ending as a pair of last-gasp free throws handed the Minnesota Timberwolves a 125-124 win against the Atlanta Hawks.
With 3.6 seconds left on the clock, Towns had ice in his veins as he made both his shots to put Minnesota decisively ahead.
There was still time left for Atlanta's Saddiq Ben to be impeded by Taurean Prince, but a foul was not given, with a game official reportedly later saying that was an error.
That could have seen Towns denied his returning glory, having featured for the first time since November 28.
Sidelined by a calf strain for almost four months, the first pick in the 2015 NBA Draft scored 22 points in his comeback game on 8-of-18 shooting.
"This is what movies is made of," Towns said in an on-court interview with Bally Sports. "Four months away, two free throws, don't worry about it, I got that!"
In a later press conference, the 27-year-old thanked coach Chris Finch for backing him.
Towns was the player fouled to set up the game-winning chance, trusting himself to get the job done.
"I was smiling a lot just in my mind," Towns said. "On the court I probably didn't show it, but even before I got the ball with seven seconds left I was smiling.
"I just had a good feeling that the game was going to go the way I wanted it to, so the play was immediately drawn up for me.
"Finch looked at me with everyone around and said, 'You're going to get the ball, and it's yours to take home'.
"So shout out to Finch having that confidence in me after 51 games [out of action] and all the things I've had to deal with."
Towns added: "When I went up there for two free throws I looked back and he was telling people, 'He ain't missing, I'm telling you that right now', and I just knew in my bones I wasn't going to miss.
"I've worked too hard on my game. I've been in those moments too many times.
"I got told I didn't have one fast heartbeat at all. I felt pretty confident, I felt pretty calm. I feel like I had that Jaden McDaniels demeanour up there, and I was just going up and making those shots."
Rivers dispels Harden and Embiid injury fears despite MVP candidate's early exit
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rovers has no long-term injury concerns over James Harden and Joel Embiid, despite the latter sitting out the second half of Wednesday's 116-91 win over the Chicago Bulls.
Harden missed the game due to Achilles soreness, while MVP candidate Embiid played a season-low 16 minutes, scoring 12 points with seven rebounds and seven assists.
The 76ers were up 76-48 at half-time, completing a routine win, with Rivers stating Embiid's early exit was out of caution from a minor calf issue.
"We've gone in the playoffs two years in a row with injuries and we all know you don't win in the playoffs when your key guys aren't healthy," Rivers told reporters. "So we're going to do whatever we can to be healthy."
Rivers indicated he expected both Harden and Embiid to be available for Friday's game against the Golden State Warriors.
Embiid's half-time exit meant he snapped his 10-game streak of 30-point games, which was a franchise record.
The 76ers center said he initially injured his calf during Monday's 109-105 overtime loss to the Bulls and opted to take the cautious route when he felt some discomfort on Wednesday.
"We've already clinched the playoffs, it's all about making sure we're going to be healthy for them," Embiid said. "If it feels good, of course I want to play, but if it's not right, then we gone figure it out."
Harden had struggled in Monday's loss, shooting two-of-14 in 46 minutes for five points. Rivers said Harden felt some foot discomfort during that game, leading to the decision to rest him on Wednesday.
"No concerns," Rivers said. "It just flared up a couple times and we decided instead of doing the back-and-forth, the dance, let's just sit him down, get him rest and make sure he's right."
The 76ers are third in the Eastern Conference with a 49-23 record, battling it out with the second-placed Boston Celtics (50-23) for the second seed. The two rivals are due to meet in a crunch clash on April 4.
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