NBA G League Showcase 2021 Results: Top Scores, Highlights and Stats from Sunday
December 20, 2021
Sunday marks the start of the 2021 G League Showcase Cup featuring the eight teams that qualified for the tournament.
Qualifiers were determined by the results from the regional pods that took place over the past six weeks across the country. The four teams with the best winning percentage in each region automatically qualified. The rest of the field was determined by winning percentage, regardless of region.
The Salt Lake City Stars won the inaugural tournament during the 2019-20 season. There was no tournament last season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament is a single-elimination format with the championship game scheduled to be played Wednesday.
G League Showcase Cup Results
No. 4 South Bay Lakers def. No. 5 Wisconsin Herd, 119-112
No. 1 Delaware Blue Coats def. No. 8 Fort Wayne Mad Ants, 126-101
No. 6 Oklahoma City Blue def. No. 3 Rio Grande Valley Vipers, 119-113
No. 7 Motor City Cruise def. No. 2 Maine Celtics, 116-103
South Bay Lakers 119. Wisconsin Herd 112
The South Bay Lakers rode two big quarters to earn a 119-112 victory over the Wisconsin Herd in the G League Showcase Cup opener.
Coming out of the first quarter with the score tied at 25, the Lakers held a two-point lead at the intermission after putting up 32 points in the second quarter. Cameron Oliver had the go-ahead bucket with a layup with 23.8 seconds to play before intermission.
The Lakers broke the game open with a 40-29 scoring advantage in the third quarter. Nate Pierre-Louis scored eight of his 19 points, including two three-pointers, in the period.
Wisconsin did make things interesting late in the fourth quarter. Trailing 113-100 with just over four minutes to play, the Herd went on a 12-2 run to get within three points.
The Lakers responded with Paris Bass scoring on a dunk assisted by Mac McClung to get the lead back up to five. Mason Jones made a pair of free throws in the final seconds to secure the win.
Jones finished with a game-high 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Bass was an unstoppable force in the paint with 23 points (10-of-15 field goals) and 18 rebounds in 32 minutes.
Jelen Lecque led Wisconsin in scoring with 22 points off the bench.
Delaware Blue Coats 126, Fort Wayne Mad Ants 101
No. 1 overall seed Delaware had no problem in its tournament opener with a 126-101 win over the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
The Blue Coats came out on fire with 39 points in the first quarter. They made seven three-pointers in the game, and four came in the opening period.
Charlie Brown Jr. was excellent on both ends of the court in the win. He had 19 points (5-of-8 from three), grabbed five defensive rebounds and had four steals.
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Delaware's defense had a good game overall. It held Fort Wayne to 17 percent shooting from behind the arc.
On the offensive end, this was a balanced effort for the Blue Coats. Brown led the team in scoring and was one of six players to reach double figures. Aaron Henry had 17 points off the bench.
Jarron Cumberland finished plus-28 in 22 minutes and scored 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Paul Reed outmuscled Fort Wayne's big men with 23 points and 19 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass.
Duane Washington Jr. led the Mad Ants in scoring with 22 points, but he only shot 7-of-17 from the field and committed five turnovers.
Motor City Cruise 116, Maine Celtics 103
Motor City used a 40-17 second-quarter surge to take control and held on for an upset of the second-seeded Celtics.
It was a balanced offensive attack from the Cruise, who saw seven different players score at least nine points. Cheick Diallo, Deividas Sirvydis and Derrick Walton Jr. each tied for the team-high with 20 points. Diallo also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.
Motor City knocked down 17 threes while shooting 47 percent from beyond the arc in the win, which sends it to the semifinals to take on the No. 6 seed Oklahoma City Blue on Tuesday (2 p.m. ET).
Meanwhile, Jaysean Paige paced Maine with 39 points on 14-of-33 shooting. He also recorded five rebounds and four steals. Chris Clemons added 21 points for the Celtics but they couldn't keep pace with the high-flying Motor City offense.
Maine will face the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in a consolation game Tuesday (3 p.m. ET).