Oklahoma City Falls to Austin in Season Opener
November 14, 2015 - NBA G League (G League)
Oklahoma City Blue News Release
OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma City Blue fell to the Austin Spurs, 110-104, in Saturday's season opener at the Cox Convention Center.
Five Blue players scored in double figures led by Talib Zanna with 21 points and eight rebounds. Dez Wells scored 19 points with five boards and Thunder draft pick Dakari Johnson recorded 16 points and nine rebounds in his pro debut. Mustapha Farrakhan and JP Tokoto tallied 18 and 10 points off the bench, respectively.
Josh Huestis, on assignment from the Thunder, scored six points while recording six rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots.
After trailing by seven through two quarters, Wells helped spark the Blue with 10 points in the third quarter to help cut the Spurs lead to 76-75 heading into the fourth. Austin rebuilt a seven-point lead before the Blue pulled within one off a pullup jumper from Wells to make it 97-96 with three minutes remaining.
The Spurs went on a quick 6-1 burst to take a six-point lead into the final minute of the game where they shot 5-of-6 from the foul line to hold off the Blue.
"I thought we came back and counterpunched quite a bit tonight, we just didn't have enough counterpunches down to stretch to win the game," said Blue Head Coach Mark Daigneault. "I was proud of how we fought, how we competed and how we played. Tomorrow we have another opportunity."
Oklahoma City (0-1) blocked 10 shots and swiped 11 steals.
Austin (2-0) was led by Bryce Cotton's 22 points alongside Walter Tavares with 18 points and 17 rebounds.
The Blue is back in action Sunday at 2 p.m. when it hosts the Texas Legends. For ticket information, visit OklahomaCityBlue.com.
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