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G League Grand Rapids Drive

MORRIS, DRIVE TOO MUCH FOR KNICKS

January 3, 2018 - NBA G League (G League)
Grand Rapids Drive News Release


WESTCHESTER (January 2, 2018) - Jamel Morris posted 29 points and 10 rebounds, helping the Grand Rapids Drive (12-12) start the new year off on a high note with a 114-89 victory over the Westchester Knicks (16-9) on the road on Tuesday night.

Westchester was within four at halftime, but the Grand Rapids defense held them to just 40 points in the second half while scoring 61 of their own, ending the Drive's small two-game losing skid in the process. The Drive have now won five of their last seven games. For the Knicks, it was their only loss in their past three games.

In addition to Morris, the Drive got 23 points from Marcus Thornton, who continued to provide an offensive boost off the bench. Bronson Koenig bounced back from a scoreless night with 15 points and Landry Nnoko was the other player aside from Morris with a double-double, scoring 13 points with 11 rebounds. Speedy Smith, one game after setting a Drive record with 17 assists, had 15 assists.

Trey Burke had 28 points, four rebounds and five assists to lead Westchester's offense. Xavier Rathhan-Mayes was also a stat sheet stuffer, scoring 15 points with seven rebounds and a team-leading nine assists.

The Drive drew just eight free throw attempts and turned the ball over 20 times to 14 by Westchester, but they were shooting the ball very well all night long while the Knicks struggled to find the bottom of the net. The Drive shot a season-high 53 percent from the field and made 19 three-pointers on 54 percent shooting from deep, which were both also season highs. Comparatively, the Knicks finished at 37 percent from the field and 29 percent from three-point range.

Morris and Thornton were big parts of the Drive's new season highs from behind the long line, as they each hit five threes and went a combined 10-of-17 on their attempts. Zeke Upshaw also hit four threes off the bench and Koenig was 3-for-4 from deep.

The Drive's first 2018 home game is next on the ledger, against the Wisconsin Herd on Friday night. The Knicks will square off against the Canton Charge on the road the same day.

Check out the Grand Rapids Drive Statistics

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