Storm players in celebration following their 115-113 win in Friday's semi-final.
Despite a game-high 58 points by Cameron Burhannon, Waves suffered a tough 115-113 loss to Storm on Friday to advance to Sunday’s final of the Elite 1 Caribbean Basketball Winter League where they are set to face defending champions Horizon.
Brandon Armstrong scored 32 for Storm in a most-compelling encounter.
Horizon, meanwhile, battered the winless Rivers 112-87 in the second semi-final.
Rivers will play Waves in a play-off for third.
Played in front of a vociferous group of spectators, the Storm/Waves game featured end-to-end action and almost constant lead changes in what many described as the game of the tournament.
Waves enjoyed the largest lead, six points, over Storm at the end of the third quarter, an advantage that was quickly erased by the second minute of the of the final quarter.
“I must commend my team. They played their hearts out,” said Storm’s head coach O’Neil Brown.
“We played this team twice since this season, this is the third game and I told my guys going into this match if one team beat you three times it means they are better then you.
“The last game when I watched over and over again we saw that when we play with two ‘bigs’, it kind of give us problems guarding the perimeter ‘cause the Waves like to shoot threes so we decided at the end of the game that we were going to go small and force them to go small and it worked out for us."
Brown said he was confident of his team’s chances against the defending champion in the final.
“I feel great and this going into the finals. We are confident that we can pull it off. This lifts the guys’ morale and we can't wait for Sunday to come," Brown said.
Losing coach Rohan Robinson was naturally despondent.
“Well, it’s simple. You could see the team prepared for us. You play a team twice and you beat them, you can do so much and no more,” he said.
“If you prepare yourself you will come out the victor. I told them if we cannot get a chance to prepare ourselves and we not playing together when things are tough we not going get through."
The second match of the night between Horizon and Rivers went as expected with Horizon winning by 25 points as Bobby Gray scored 23 points in tandem with Rasheed Maynard and Asaad Wood, who each scored 19 points.
They led at the end of every quarter and were ahead by as many as 35 points in the third quarter.
Rivers outscored Horizon 27-17 in the fourth quarter but it provided little consolation.
Rivers’ Anthony Ottley scored 24 with support from Ricky Shuford 17 and Tre Brewer 16.
"It was a pretty good game. We have played them about four times. We weren't surprised that we were able to pull out another victory tonight, not really a strong opponent but nevertheless, we were able to pull a victory and I am proud of the team tonight" said Horizon’s coach Cleon Morgan.
River’s coach Tesfa Milligen is hopeful his team can win third place on Sunday.
“Unfortunately, another rough night. We still have one more game left which is for third place so hopefully we can put it together and play a full 48 minutes of competitive team basketball and come out with a W," he said.
The third place -off and final will tip off on Sunday, January 29. The first match begins at 6:00 pm and the final set for at 8:00 pm. The day's activity will actually start at 2:00 pm with several exhibition matches featuring high school girls and boys teams.
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.
Warriors claim crucial road win amid Mavericks protest controversy, Morant and KAT return
The Golden State Warriors claimed rare back-to-back wins with Wednesday's 127-125 victory at the Dallas Mavericks but the game was marred by controversy after Kevon Looney's third-quarter uncontested dunk.
Stephen Curry scored 20 points with 13 assists as the reigning NBA champions secured consecutive wins on a road trip for the first time this season at American Airlines Center.
But the Mavs were left raging after Looney's uncontested dunk with 1:54 left in the third quarter from a Warriors inbound after a timeout, which Dallas had thought was their ball, meaning they subsequently lined up on the other half of the court.
Mavs owner Mark Cuban said they would contest the result of the game due to the incident which he labelled the "worst officiating non call mistake possibly in the history of the NBA" on Twitter.
Despite that, the Mavs could have won the game on merit, with Luka Doncic missing a two-point attempt under pressure from Draymond Green with 3.2 seconds left at 125-122.
That came after Curry's bounce-pass set up Green's three-point play, before the reigning NBA Finals MVP glided in for a two-point shot to open up the three-point buffer with 8.1 seconds to play.
Doncic, in his return after missing five games with a thigh injury, scored 30 points with seven rebounds and 17 assists. Doncic shot 11-of-27 from the field and six-of-10 from the stripe.
In Kyrie Irving's absence, 20-year-old guard Jaden Hardy was outstanding with six three-pointers in his 27 points.
The win is a major boost for Golden State's playoff hopes, moving to sixth in the West with a 38-36 record, while the Mavs drop to ninth with a 36-37 record, having lost five of their past seven games.
It was Golden State's first road win when trailing after the first quarter, having entered the game with a 0-20 record.
Morant and KAT make successful returns
Ja Morant made his successful return for the Memphis Grizzlies off the bench for the first time in his career as they won their fourth straight game, beating the Houston Rockets 130-125.
Morant returned after his NBA-imposed eight-game suspension with 17 points and five assists, receiving a standing ovation from the home fans upon his injection into the game.
Jaren Jackson Jr scored a season-high 37 points with 10 rebounds and Desmond Bane added 20 points as the Grizzlies clinched the Southwest division.
It was a night of returns as Karl-Anthony Towns was back for the first time since November due to a calf strain, scoring two game-winning free-throws with 3.6 seconds left as the Minnesota Timberwolves won 125-124 over the Atlanta Hawks.
Lakers stay right in playoff hunt
The Los Angeles Lakers ensured they remained firmly in the congested race for Western Conference playoff and play-in tournament spots with a 122-111 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Anthony Davis scored a team-high 27 points including 20 in the second half, with nine rebounds, while Austin Reaves backed up Sunday's 35-point game with 25 points and a career-high 11 assists.
Devin Booker scored 33 points on 11-of-16 field shooting with six rebounds but seven turnovers for the Suns, who remain fourth in the West but with a 38-34 record.
The Lakers move up to 10th, just behind the Mavs in ninth, with a 36-37 record and LeBron James not far from a return from injury.
Mavericks to protest Warriors defeat after 'worst officiating non-call mistake'
The Dallas Mavericks will protest Wednesday's 127-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors after the "worst officiating non call mistake possibly in the history of the NBA" according to owner Mark Cuban.
The protest centers around a referee call which led to Warriors center Kevon Looney scoring an uncontested dunk to make it 90-87 from a Jordan Poole inbound pass with 1:54 left in the third quarter following a Mavericks timeout.
Dallas believed that they had possession of the ball, thus were not in position for the inbound, with Cuban claiming that was due to a miscommunication by the referees.
"For those wondering about the play with 1:54 to go on the 3rd, let me explain what happened," Cuban tweeted.
"The ref called Mavs ball. The announcer announced it. Then there was a timeout. During the time out the official changed the call and never told us. Then when they saw us line up as if it were our ball, he just gave the ball to the warriors. Never said a word to us.
"They got an easy basketball. Crazy that it would matter in a 2 point game. Worst officiating non call mistake possibly in the history of the NBA. All they had to do was tell us and they didn't."
Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd also argued the decision with referee Michael Smith at the time to no avail. Cuban disputed the decision courtside with officials too.
In a pool report, crew chief Sean Wright disputed Cuban's account of events, claiming that the referee's original call was a Warriors' ball, followed by another signal to indicate a Dallas timeout.
"There is a second signal, but that signal is for a mandatory timeout that was due to the Mavs," Wright said.
Following the pool report, Cuban added on Twitter with an image of the scene: "Only two refs were on that side of the court and we had 2 guys at half court going to in bound. The other ref obviously thought it was our ball as well."
Under NBA rules, Cuban must file the protest within 48 hours of the conclusion of the game.
The game came down to the wire, with scores at 123-122 entering the final minute. Reggie Bullock scored a three-pointer on the buzzer to narrow it to a two-point final margin.
Mavs guard Luka Doncic also expressed his frustration after missing a two-point attempt with 3.2 seconds left at 125-122, appearing to rub his fingers like a money gesture aimed at the referee.
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