The Oklahoma City Blue (15-4) held off the Long Island Nets (12-6) in the final minutes to earn a 112-108 victory Saturday night at the G League Winter Showcase in Las Vegas.
The Nets, facing the team with the best record in the G League, were without Dzanan Musa and Theo Pinson, both of whom are in Brooklyn. Musa, Long Island’s high scorer and the Nets first round pick, is out for a month with a shoulder separation and Pinson, one of the Nets two-way players, is filling in for him with the big club.
Alan Williams, the G League’s second leading rebounder, finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds, while Mitch Creek, Long Island’s Australian swingman, had 26 points, playing 40 minutes. Three Long Island veterans — Thomas Wimbush and Shannon Scott — had 18 and 14, while Jordan McLaughlin couldn’t match his Thursday night heroics and finished with 14 points on 5-of-23 shots. He had seven of his shots blocked as well.
Here’s some Big Sauce highlights...
Another big showing from @alantwilliams tonight with the @LongIslandNets!
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) December 23, 2018
The @BrooklynNets #2WayPlayer finished with 19 PTS & 18 REB #GLeagueShowcase
Here are his BEST plays! pic.twitter.com/nOZyEM4vKh
After a fadeaway shot from Scotty Hopson tied the game at 108-all, Dez Wells hit the go-ahead shot for the Blue with 51.4 seconds left and blocked a layup from Creek to seal the victory. OKC had 15 blocks for the game.
“This was a great team win,” Blue Coach Mark Daigneault said. “The game was physical and it wasn’t perfect but I thought we showed great resilience throughout and competed for 48 minutes.”
Oklahoma City was led by two-way player Deonte Burton who scored 21 points on 9-of-15 from the field and had six rebounds and four assists, while fellow two-way player Tyler Davis added eight points and eight rebounds. Hopson contributed 17 points, with 14 coming in the second half. Former Net K.J. McDaniels had 14 points and six rebounds.
Williams, who averaged 21.5 points and 16.0 rebounds in his two Showcase games, was named to the Showcase second team. He’s averaging 19.5 points and 14.2 rebounds for teh season. Long Island plays again next Friday in Wisconsin. They currently sit in third place in the East.