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Grand Rapids Drive

Blue Hold off Drive's Comeback

March 15, 2015 - NBA G League (G League)
Grand Rapids Drive News Release


Oklahoma City - March 15, 2015 - In a game defined by an even first half and a second half of runs, the Oklahoma City Blue (23-20) held off the Grand Rapids Drive (18-22) at home on Sunday night by a score of 109-99.

This was the second consecutive meeting between the teams that Oklahoma City has won by 10 points.

The Drive were slightly better than their counterparts in the first two quarters, heading to the locker rooms halfway through the game the owners of a five-point lead. But the Blue were never removed from striking distance, as evidenced by the game's 20 lead changes and six ties.

The third quarter was where Oklahoma City started to really make an impression, clamping down on defense and pulling away by outscoring the Drive 31-15 in the quarter.

The Drive weren't ready to lie down, though, and came flying out of the gates in the final quarter to narrow the lead to less than five, but the effort wasn't able to last the whole quarter and the Blue pulled away again for the win.

Oklahoma City featured a balanced scoring attack that saw four starters and five total players score in double figures.

Talib Zanna was their biggest factor, as his 24 points and 14 rebounds were both team highs. Dwight Buycks had 22 points and eight rebounds, and Frank Gaines provided a big spark as OKC's sixth man, scoring 20 points and dishing five assists.

Kevin Murphy led Grand Rapids in scoring despite coming off the bench, contributing 23 points. Manny Atkins had 20 points and nine rebounds.

Hasheem Thabeet was productive in just 19 minutes, scoring 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and four blocks. He was ejected midway through the fourth due to a flagrant foul.

The Drive were a combination of efficiency and inefficiency, shooting 50 percent from the field but committing 20 turnovers.

Oklahoma City was effective despite shooting a lower percentage than the Drive and not making a lot of three-pointers, mostly due to their rebounding (46 total rebounds) and free throw shooting (28 attempts at the line).

The Drive head home to play the Maine Red Claws on Tuesday night. The Blue don't play again until Saturday, March 21, where they will play Rio Grande on the road.

Check out the Grand Rapids Drive Statistics

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