The G League’s OKC Blue had a comeback attempt fall short in a 115-108 loss to the Memphis Hustle on Saturday. The road defeat dropped their record to 11-21 in the regular season.
Both teams had a high-scoring start. The Blue were the first to blink. They ended the first quarter in a 36-31 deficit. Things were better in the second frame, though. OKC put up 32 points. At the break, it was in a 64-63 hole. Pretty competitive game so far with Memphis.
The third quarter changed the game story, though. The Blue were on the wrong side of a 33-15 frame. That escalates things into a double-digit difference. They were in a 97-78 hole through three quarters. Not good. Put them in quite a hole to climb out of. They fell behind by as many as 23 points.
To the Blue’s credit, they made things interesting. They dominated the final frame with a 30-18 scoring advantage. That almost squared things at even. Instead, OKC got as close as within five points at a couple of different junctures in the final moments.
Making it a 105-100 game with a little under three minutes to go, the Hustle put the Blue away with seven straight points to make it 112-100 with 46 seconds left. That was the whole game.
The Blue shot 44% from the field and went 12-of-33 (36.4%) from 3. They shot 12-of-19 on free throws. They had 25 assists on 39 baskets. Five Blue players scored double-digit points.
Meanwhile, the Hustle shot 43% from the field and went 14-of-38 (36.8%) from 3. They shot 19-of-26 on free throws. They had 18 assists on 36 baskets. Three Hustle players scored double-digit points.
Here are some notable individual performances from both sides:
- Nikola Topic: 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting, 1-of-4 from 3, five assists, three rebounds, two steals
- Zhaire Smith: 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, 3-of-4 from 3, 3-of-4 on free throws, six rebounds, three assists
- Payton Sandfort: 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting, 4-of-7 from 3, 3-of-3 on free throws, eight rebounds, two blocks
- Anthony Pritchard: 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, five rebounds, five assists
- Eric Dixon: 32 points on 9-of-21 shooting, 3-of-10 from 3, 8-of-10 on free throws, nine rebounds, four assists
- Orlando Robinson: 30 points on 9-of-18 shooting, 1-of-5 from 3, 7-of-9 on free throws, 11 rebounds, five assists, two steals
- Colby Jones: 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, 2-of-6 from 3, four rebounds, two assists, two blocks
- Paul Watson: eight points on 3-of-8 shooting, 2-of-5 from 3, two rebounds, two assists
The full highlights of the Blue’s seven-point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies‘ G League affiliate can be watched below:
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Recap: OKC Blue can’t complete comeback in 115-108 loss to Memphis Hustle