Sports stats



D-Fenders Game Notes - Game #6 at Rio Grande Valley

November 26, 2016 - NBA G League (G League)
Los Angeles D-Fenders News Release


GAME INFORMATION

Los Angeles D-Fenders (4-1) at Rio Grande Valley Vipers (4-1)

Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016 - 5:00 p.m. PT

State Farm Arena - Hidalgo, TX

Streaming: The NBA D-League will stream the event for free through Facebook Live (http://bit.ly/2gKsu1I)

NOTEWORTHY

NOVEMBER NOTABLES: Los Angeles is off to one of its best starts of a season in franchise history. At 4-1, this year's D-Fenders squad has tied its best start ever, matching a 4-1 mark for LA to start last year. The current four wins in November is the second-most that the team has ever recorded in the month after going 6-2 in November in 2015-16.

TOP-10 D-FENDERS: Three D-Fenders are among the league's leaders in individual categories: Josh Magette (2nd in assists, 10.6 apg), Vander Blue (9th in scoring, 24.0 ppg) and David Foster (5th in blocks, 2.5 bpg).

2,500 CLUB: Guard Vander Blue became the first-ever player to score 2,500 career points for the D-Fenders during Wednesday's game against Northern Arizona. He now has 2,524 points in his Los Angeles career.

ZUBAC, FIRST ASSIGNMENT OF THE YEAR: Los Angeles Lakers center Ivica Zubac was re-assigned to the team on Nov. 22, notching the first double-double of his professional career (21 points, 12 rebounds) the next day against Northern Arizona. He became the 22nd player to ever play for both the Lakers and their D-League affiliate after being originally assigned to the D-Fenders on Nov. 17 against Rio Grande Valley. He is the 18th Lakers assignment player to be developed by the D-Fenders.

PROSPECT WATCH: Three Los Angeles players were named as top NBA prospects for an NBA D-League panel of professional scouts, former players and writers with the league's official website, dleague.nba.com. The 25-person ranking included Vander Blue at No. 3, Justin Harper at No. 19 and Josh Magette at No. 20.

PUTTING IN EXTRA TIME: Los Angeles prevailed in a 142-135 double overtime win over the

Northern Arizona Suns on Wednesday. It was the first game to advance past regulation for the D-Fenders

this year, and it was the eighth game to go to double overtime in the team's history. Check out a full

breakdown of the D-Fenders' performance in overtime matchups.

EFFICIENT FORWARDS: Former all-star forwards Justin Harper and Roscoe Smith have made the most of their minutes this season. Harper is averaging 19.4 points and a team-best 9.0 rebounds in only 27.0 minutes per game. Meanwhile, Smith is fifth on the team in scoring, averaging 15.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in 25.3 minutes per contest.

OFFENSE OFF TO HOT START: First year head coach Coby Karl spoke throughout the preseason about his desire to instill a fast-paced, high-scoring offense, and so far it looks like his vision is coming to life. Los Angeles comes into the day ranking first in the D-League for scoring average (127.8 ppg) and assists (26.8 apg).

MAGETTE MOVES UP: Los Angeles point guard Josh Magette moved to 17th on the NBA D-League's all-time assists list on Saturday, Nov. 19, after notching a season-high 17 assists that is the best mark in the league this year. With four assists today, Magette would move to 16th all-time, passing Jameson Curry (815).

DOUBLING DOWN: D-Fenders veterans Josh Magette and Justin Harper have each recorded a team-leading two double-doubles this season. Magette's impressive outings came on 11/17 vs. RGV (16 points and 13 assists) and 11/19 vs. SCW (19 points and 17 assists), whille Harper's came on 11/12 at SCW (24 points, 14 rebounds) and 11/23 vs. Northern Arizona (16 points, 11 rebounds).

BLUE'S BEST: Blue, now in his third season with the D-Fenders, has stamped his name throughout the Los Angeles record book. Among his status as the franchise's all-time leading scorer, Blue is also LA's career leader in seven different categories.

2016-17 SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN

- The D-Fenders have 10 sets of back-to-back games in 2016-17

- The longest home stand of the year is 10 days/four games

(1/5-1/26, 12/1-12/10)

- The longest road trip of the year is 11 days/six games (1/29-2/8)

- Los Angeles will have three 'three-game in four-night' sets this season.

- The D-Fenders will challenge the Sioux Falls Skyforce on four

occasions this season in a rematch of last year's NBA D-League Finals

MASTER MAGETTE: Josh Magette has positioned himself as perhaps the best point guard in LA's history. Now in his third season with the

team, the Alabama-Huntsville graduate leads the D-Fenders in career assists (812 ) and steals (223 ).

BLUE AMONG THE LEAGUE'S ALL-TIME LEADERS: Blue's 3,012 career points with Los Angeles, Idaho, Delaware and Maine is currently good for 13th in NBA D-League history. The guard out of Marquette is 29 points away from surpassing Justin Dentmon for 12th place all-time.



NBA G League Stories from November 26, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Los Angeles D-Fenders Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central