Wizards top 14ers in O.T. for NBDL Title

The Dakota Wizards took down the Colorado 14ers in OT 129-121. Darius Rice finished with 52 points off the bench as the Wizards added another championship trophy to their organization's trophy case.

The Wizards started off slow once again. The 14ers took advantage early and got off to a quick start, but Dakota turned on the defense in the second quarter and took a 64-56 lead into the locker room.

But as the game wore on the Wizards kept wearing down Colorado's D. Personally, from what I've seen no one in the NBDL (National Basketball Developmental League) can run with the Wizards. They are great at getting out in transition, getting to the rack, and making some quick outside shots. They have just about the perfect personnel to do so.

Darius Rice stepped up big for the Wiz as 4 of their key players went 0-9 from beyond the arc. Rice exploded for a D-League record 11 three pointers.

Colorado took the lead for the first time in the second half at 107-106 with an Elton Brown lay-up with about one minute left. Dontell Jefferson then missed a lay-up for Dakota with 10 seconds left and Pooh Jeter was then fouled. Jeter, then sank two free-throws to put the 14ers up 109-106. Then with about 6 seconds left Darius Rice hit a wide open three! Elton Brown then threw up a heave that rimmed in and out and almost quieted the crowd.

Dakota took control in O.T. nailing some key shots and free throws to capture their 1st NBDL Title, and 4th overall.

I was at the Civic Center to catch the 'ship myself and it was a great game. It was exciting, down-to-the-wire, and the crowd was really into it. Plus, there's nothing like seeing the best semi-pro basketball team in the country throw another banner up in downtown Bismarck.

Week Review in Sports

NBA
The playoffs got underway Saturday as Lebron James and Co. defeated the Arenas' less Wizards 97-82. Oh Wizards, what could have been...

Larry Hughes had an impressive night with 27 points and 7 boards. While Antwain Jamison paced Washington with 28 points and 14 boards of his own. With no clear-cut favorite in the East, don't be surprised if you see the Cavs in the finals.

Nets 96 Raptors 91
Richard Jefferson scored 28 points, Kidd nearly had a triple-double and the Nets stopped a late rally to beat the Raptors 96-91 on Saturday in Game 1 of the series. The former Raptor Vince Carter was not welcomed on a return trip to Toronto. Carter scored 16 points but shot just 5-of-19 from the field. But Jefferson stepped up to make 11 of 21 shots.

Bulls 96 Heat 91
Chicago stuck it to Miami late in the game to steal the win. Luol Deng scored 33 points, Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni each hit two free throws in the final 19 seconds, and the Chicago Bulls held off the Heat Saturday in Game 1 of their opening-round rematch. The Heat trailed 92-91 after Dwyane Wade found Udonis Haslem for a layup with 38 seconds left, but Gordon hit two foul shots with 18 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Wade missed a 3-pointer and Nocioni hit two more free throws with 9.8 seconds left for the final score.

Rockets 84 Jazz 75
Tracy McGrady finished with 23 points. Before his outburst, the Rockets relied on Yao Ming, who finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds. Utah led by nine at halftime and was ahead 49-41 before Houston went on an 8-2 run, fueled by seven points by McGrady to get within two. A jump shot by Deron Williams made it 53-49 before a 3 by Shane Battier put Houston within striking distance. Houston then when on to control the rest of the game and never looked back.

MLB
Indians get one hit, still top Contreras, White Sox.
C.C. Sabathia pitched 8 powerful innings as his Indians took down the White Sox 2-1. Oh and by the way they got one hit. Sabathia had 5 IP and gave up 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, and 10 K.

Meanwhile, Jose Contreras was even more impressive and still lost. He threw 5 IP gave up 1 H, 5 BB, and had 3 K. The Indians' only hit was Grady Sizemore's double in the first off Contreras. Cleveland took advantage of three errors and some walks to take two of three in the series.

Mark Buerhle no-hits Rangers
The Chicago White Sox left-hander faced the minimum 27 batters in a 6-0 victory over the Texas Rangers. Working quickly and efficiently in a dominant performance, Buehrle allowed only one base runner. He walked Sammy Sosa with one out in the fifth inning, then promptly picked him off first base. I was very surprised with this as Buerhle has not been his near self in about 2 seasons. Before this last appearance he's been too jittery with his pitching and K to BB ratio.

Barry Bonds inches closer to Aaron
Bonds hit his 4th, 5th, and 6th HR's of the season against the Cardinals and Diamondbacks. He moved within 15 HR's of the record. Bonds has been as healthy as he's been in about 3 seasons now, which leads me to believe he will hit at least 35 HR's this season.

D-League
Just thought I'd mention the NBDL because of my hometown team Dakota Wizards, who defeated the Sioux Falls Sky Force 115-113 Saturday night. I attended the game myself and I thought they were going to fall after the way they played throughout the game. The Sky Force had a 7-12 point lead for most of the game and whenever the Wizards would get within 5-6 points, Sioux Falls would go down and score again. The Wizards finally tied it up with about 2:48 left in the 4th quarter and held on as Renaldo Major scored 29 points in the win.

The Wizards now advance to the NBDL Championship to take on the Colorado 14ers, which will be held Sunday, April 29. I'll be there and will do a recap of the game right here on The Sports Flow as the game concludes.