Rio Grande Valley One Step Closer to Third Championship
April 24, 2017 - NBA G League (G League)
Rio Grande Valley Vipers News Release
McAllen, Texas- The Rio Grande Valley Vipers, NBA D-League affiliate of the Houston Rockets, defeated Raptors 905 by a score of 119-106 in Game 1 of the NBA D-League Finals.
Darius Morris finished the night with a double-double. Morris had 11 rebounds and a team high of 23 points. Two more Vipers collected double-doubles as well. Isaiah Taylor had 10 points and 17 points while Joshua Smith had 10 rebounds and 16 points.
C.J. Leslie scored 25 points off the bench for Raptors 905. Pascal Siakam had 20 points and 10 rebounds.
The Raptors got off to an impressive 10-1 run to start the game. Isaiah Taylor's eight points in the opening quarter helped the Vipers close the gap and finish the quarter trailing 29-31. All nine Raptors 905 players that entered the game in the first quarter got on the scoring sheet. The Vipers had five three-pointers in the first quarter.
After outscoring the Raptors 905 26-20 in the second quarter, the Vipers held a 55-51 lead at the half.
Darrius Morris was the offensive spark for Rio Grande Valley in the third quarter. Darius Morris scored 14 points and went five-for-five. RGV put on their best offensive performance in the third quarter scoring 38 points.
Joshua Smith came up big for the Vipers in the fourth quarter to seal the win. Smith scored 10 points while being able to collect seven rebounds for the team. The Vipers held on to their double-digit lead that they obtained in the third quarter and won the first game of the NBA D-League Finals.
RGV Vipers' performance of 15 three-pointers made is the third best in D-League Finals History.
The Vipers hit the road and face Raptors 905 on Tuesday, April 25 for the second game of the NBA D-League Finals in a best-of-three series.
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