Recap: OKC Blue escape with 130-127 OT win over Grand Rapids Gold
· Yahoo Sports
The G League's OKC Blue returned the favor with a 130-127 overtime win over the Grand Rapids Gold on Tuesday. The home victory improved to 11-20 in the regular season.
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The Blue got the offense going early with a 37-30 lead after the first quarter. They added to it with 36 points in the second frame. Entering halftime, OKC had a controlling 73-58 advantage over the Gold.
At the break, Grand Rapids made the proper adjustments. While the Blue tallied 29 points, their lead slowly dwindled. It came down to a single-digit ball-game. They had a 102-93 lead through three quarters.
Once up by 18 points, the Blue eventually lost their lead in the final moments of regulation. Brooks Barnhizer put OKC ahead 122-119 with 31 seconds left. Javonte McCoy tied things up at the other end in an unconventional way. First, he swished in a technical foul free throw. Then he scored a bucket in the final seconds.
The Blue were limited to 20 points in the fourth quarter. That allowed the Gold to tie things up at 122 points apiece through regulation. Overtime we went. Remember, in the G League, it's the first to seven points in the additional session. Viktor Lakhin scored the game-winner. The Blue had eight points in overtime to get the nail-biter.
The Blue shot 60% from the field and went 5-of-21 (23.8%) from 3. They shot 9-of-13 on free throws. They also had 31 assists on 54 baskets. Eight Blue players scored double-digit points.
Meanwhile, the Gold shot 44% from the field and went 15-of-48 (31.3%) from 3. They shot 13-of-18 on free throws. They had 27 assists on 47 baskets. Eight Gold players scored double-digit points.
Here are some notable individual performances from both sides:
- Nikola Topic: 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, 1-of-3 from 3, seven rebounds, six assists
- Brooks Barnhizer: 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting, 15 rebounds, five assists
- Zhaire Smith: 20 points on 9-of-19 shooting, 0-of-5 from 3, six rebounds, five assists
- Viktor Lakhin: 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, 1-of-4 from 3, nine rebounds, five assists
- DaRon Holmes II: 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting, 3-of-9 from 3, 4-of-5 on free throws, nine rebounds, six assists, four steals
- Javante McCoy: 25 points on 10-of-22 shooting, 2-of-4 from 3, 3-of-3 on free throws, seven rebounds, six assists
- Terrence Hargrove Jr.: 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 3-of-7 from 3, two rebounds
- KJ Simpson: 16 points on 6-of-18 shooting, 1-of-6 from 3, seven assists, three rebounds
Let's look at the full highlights of the Blue's three-point OT win over the Denver Nuggets' G League affiliate:
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Recap: OKC Blue escape with 130-127 OT win over Grand Rapids Gold