Waves' seven-footer Tyran Walker (#7) goes airborne to block Storms' Jayrn Johnson (#3) while Derjean Royal (L) and Lushane Wilson (R) of Waves look on during Waves' win over Storm on Wednesday, January 26, at the National Arena.
Contributed
Defending champion Horizon and Waves share league-topping honours with five wins each as the preliminary round of the Elite 1 Caribbean Basketball Winter League concluded on Wednesday at the National Arena in Kingston.
Waves edged Storm 91-87 while Horizon defeated Rivers 105-86 in the second match of the day.
Waves led 19-17 after the first quarter and 42-36 at the half-way mark. Waves intensified their defensive play in the third quarter to widen the lead to nine points 63-54 at the end of the third. However, Storm stormed back in the fourth outscoring Waves 33-28 after the latter had opened a 16-point lead at the start of the closing stanza.
The rally excited the crowd but was not enough to overcome the deficit in the end.
Lushane Wilson led the scoring with 29 points for Waves. He got support from Nathan Akade’s 16 points and Tyran Walker’s 15. Jayrn Johnson had 24 points and Brandon Armstrong 20 for Storm. Crowd favourite Walker, who had several blocks in the game, revealed afterwards that he was intent on pulling out all the stops for the victory.
"(I was) trying to go out and get a win, doing anything it takes to get a win, be scrappy defensively, just trying to make a statement going into the play-offs,” he said.
“It’s a tough team, the Storm. They are going be a problem in the play-offs, if we end up playing them.”
Storm's assistant coach Simon Brown was naturally disappointed at the defeat.
I’ll be dead honest; I personally believe that the only reason that we lost tonight is because shots that we normally score we didn't start hitting them till the fourth quarter. Simple as that,” he said. "We have to get back to a mental game. Start learning to settle and to be calm in moments like this so that we can step up. Those turnovers came out of frustration rather than out of poor play."
Coach Brown promised that despite the loss, his team still have their eyes on the top prize.
"What you can expect is the championship,” he said.
“We going all the way to the top. We don't care if it’s the first, second or fourth-place team, whoever we get in front of us our plan is to beat them, play smarter basketball and I think we can take it all."
In the second match of the night Horizon and Rivers were locked on 43 points apiece at the half-way mark. Rivers led by one after the quarter 21-20 but then the Horizon settled down and never looked back.
They outscored Rivers 30-16 to close the third quarter 73-59 and while Rivers tried to stage a comeback in the final quarter ended up losing 105-86.
Bobby Gray led the scoring for Horizon with 35 points while the Rivers' Anthony Ottley had a game-high 38 points.
“It was great. It was a team effort, team win, that's what it takes to bounce back after a loss,” said Gray, whose team lost to Waves in their previous match. You got to play together and believe in yourselves.”
The next set of matches are scheduled for Friday (January 27) beginning at 6:00 pm when the second and third place teams battle for a place in the final and in the other match, the top team in the league will take on the fourth place team for the final spot.
Injured Davis demands consistency from 'two team' Lakers
Anthony Davis is unsure as to the extent of a foot injury he aggravated against the Detroit Pistons, but he knows the Los Angeles Lakers must find some consistency.
Davis scored 37 points on Monday but his efforts were not enough to prevent Los Angeles slipping to a 115-103 loss.
The Lakers are now 4-3 overall after winning their opening three games of the season.
To compound their frustration, Davis – who is averaging 32.6 points per game – aggravated a left foot issue in the final quarter.
"We're just two different teams right now," lamented Davis.
"One game, we're this team who showcased it can be one of the better teams in the league. Then the next, we're this team who -- I don't even know who we are. So, we just got to be better.
"We got to put a full 48 [minutes] together, and we can't continue to do this if we expect to do anything this season."
On his injury, Davis added: "I'll talk to my trainer and just kind of figure out what exactly is going on.
"I've been managing it since this summer, honestly, and my goal for every game is to be on the floor. And I just kind of landed directly on the spot that's been killing me. So, we'll figure it out."
LeBron James finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, and was honest in his assessment of a potential lay-off for Davis.
"I don't play the 'if' game," James said.
"We'll go off what AD says and see how he feels over the next couple of days and go from there. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know [the impact] if AD's in or out. C'mon."
Reflecting on the latest defeat, Lakers coach JJ Redick simply said: "We're all disappointed."
NBA: Cavaliers, Thunder stay perfect
Darius Garland capped a 39-point night by hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer with 45 seconds left that enabled the scorching Cleveland Cavaliers to stay unbeaten with Monday's 116-114 win over the reeling Milwaukee Bucks.
After converting a layup that brought the Cavaliers within 111-110 with 1:07 remaining, Garland knocked down a 25-footer on Cleveland's next possession after the Bucks' Damian Lillard was called for a backcourt violation.
Lillard then misfired on a 3-point try on Milwaukee's next trip down the court before Jarrett Allen sealed the Cavs' eighth straight win to begin the season with a layup off a Garland feed with 12.2 seconds to go.
Cleveland matched the best start in a season in franchise history, having previously gone 8-0 to open the 1976-77 campaign.
Garland finished 7 of 11 from 3-point range and 15 of 22 overall from the field while adding eight assists. The Cavaliers also received 14 points, 15 rebounds and six assists from Allen and 17 points from Evan Mobley.
Milwaukee, meanwhile, has lost six in a row since a season-opening win at Philadelphia for its longest skid in a season since also dropping six straight in March 2015. The Bucks also played without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo due to a strained adductor muscle he sustained in a 114-113 loss to Cleveland on Saturday.
Lillard paced the Bucks with 36 points on 11-of-22 shooting to go along with seven assists. Bobby Portis and AJ Green each had 21 points for Milwaukee, with Portis adding 18 rebounds.
Thunder cruise past Magic to move to 7-0
The Oklahoma City Thunder also stayed perfect for the young season by coasting to a 102-86 victory over the Orlando Magic behind Jalen Williams' 23 points and 21 from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Western Conference's lone remaining unbeaten team led from start to finish and built a margin as large as 26 points in the second half to extend its best start since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. The Seattle Supersonics began a season 7-0 or better three times, most recently a 10-game run to open the 1993-94 campaign.
Orlando shot just 35.4 per cent from the field to lose its fourth straight game following a 3-1 start. The last three defeats have come with leading scorer Paolo Banchero sidelined with a torn oblique.
Franz Wagner led the Magic with 22 points, while Jalen Suggs recorded 19 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Williams put up 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting as the Thunder shot a torrid 71.4 per cent in the first quarter to take a 39-26 lead into the second. The forward ended the first half with 19 points to lead Oklahoma City into the break owning a comfortable 58-43 advantage.
The Thunder continued to add to their lead in the third quarter, as three consecutive 3-pointers from reserve Isaiah Joe highlighted a 13-1 run that extended the margin to 84-58 late in the period.
Durant's late basket lifts Suns, foils 76ers in George's debut
Kevin Durant's driving layup with 24 seconds remaining broke a tie game and put a damper on Paul George's delayed debut with the Philadelphia 76ers as the Phoenix Suns came through with a 118-116 win.
Durant's key basket capped a 10-1 run over the final 3 1/2 minutes that lifted Phoenix to its fifth straight victory following a 1-1 start. The star forward finished with 35 points and six assists to help offset an off night from team-mate Devin Booker, who went 3 of 18 from the field while scoring 13 points.
George had 15 points in 32 minutes in his first appearance since signing with the 76ers as a free agent in the offseason. The nine-time All-Star missed the team's first five games due to a bone bruise in his left knee and was rusty during his return, missing 10 of his 14 shot attempts.
Philadelphia, which remains without franchise centre Joel Embiid due to a knee issue, dropped to 1-5 despite Tyrese Maxey's 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting.
The 76ers appeared on the way to a win after owning a 115-108 advantage following Guerschon Yabusele's dunk with 3:39 to go, which turned out to be their final basket of the night.
Phoenix answered with eight straight points, capped by Durant's jumper with one minute to play, to take a 116-115 edge.
After Maxey made one of two free throws to tie the game with 49.6 seconds left, Durant drove past a defender and scored before George misfired on a 23-footer just before the final buzzer.
Spurs head coach Popovich out indefinitely
The San Antonio Spurs will be without head coach Gregg Popovich indefinitely after he reportedly suffered a health issue prior to the team’s last game.
The 75-year-old Popovich didn’t coach the Spurs (3-3) during Saturday’s 113-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves due to what the team said was an undisclosed illness.
Mike Johnson took over as head coach against Minnesota and will remain in the role while Popovich is sidelined.
“He's not feeling well,” Johnson said prior to Saturday’s game. “This has happened before.
“I think everybody's just always got to be ready for the next man up. We've had it with injuries and sometimes people get sick or don't feel well or things come up in life.
“He's just not feeling well.”
Popovich is the NBA's all-time leader with 1,391 victories and has won five NBA titles while coaching San Antonio since the 1996-97 season.
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