Coming off of an up and down week against the Rio Grande Vipers and the Austin Spurs, the Oklahoma City Blue will look to close out the season on a high note.
Revenge Game
The Oklahoma City Blue faced off against the Rio Grande Vipers on Friday and beat them convincingly after a 15 point loss to them a week before. The Blue used a huge second quarter to take off on the Vipers and held on to that lead the remainder of the game. Oklahoma City Thunder Forward, Josh Huestis, joined the team for both of their games this week.
Huestis, Reggie Williams, and Dakari Johnson all scored above 20 points in the win and showed how much a factor the starting unit can be with more minutes. Coach Mark Diagneault rolled out a 9-man rotation for this one, giving the players a playoff style rotation to practice with. It worked perfectly as the starting five combined for a +94 plus/minus, with PG Alex Caruso leading the way with a +24.
DIVISION CHAMPS! The Blue defeats the Vipers to earn the first division title in franchise history!
— OKC BLUE (@okcblue) March 25, 2017
RECAP: https://t.co/aj4Bx1ncs7 pic.twitter.com/AGVClOGnpu
A Big Slip
The Oklahoma City Blue was sitting on top of the western conference until they logged their first and only loss of the week against the Austin Spurs. With the loss, the Los Angeles D-fenders leap-frogged them and took over the top spot.
The Austin Spurs were eliminated from playoff contention about a week and a half ago. So, there wasn’t much to play for on their part except for the development and experience. Such was true in the stat sheets as almost everyone played who suited up for the Spurs. Oklahoma City had no answer for the team game they were displaying against them. Caruso was the high man in this contest with 20 points. That said, no starter could gain any traction defensively to stop the bleeding.
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Playoff Ready?
The Blue close out the season with back to back home games against two middle of the pack teams that aren’t eligible for the playoffs. The Thunder won’t drop any further in the western conference with a loss or two. But, there’s a chance to re-pass Los Angeles if they lose a game or THREE in their final week.
With the playoffs on the horizon now is the time to tighten up strategies. OKC should look to tighten up their rotations and figure out substitution strategies over these last two games. This is also a chance for players like Dakari and Daniel Hamilton to show what they can do on a higher stage than usual.
Check back here for an Oklahoma City Blue Playoff Preview once the season wraps up after Saturday.