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November 27, 2009 - NBA G League (G League) News Release


OPENING DAY (Tonight's Games)

Iowa @ Springfield 7:00pm ET

Erie @ Fort Wayne 7:30pm ET

Utah @ Tulsa 8:00pm ET

Maine @ Sioux Falls 8:00pm ET

Rio Grande Valley @ Austin 8:30pm ET

Bakersfield @ Albuquerque 9:00pm ET

DEVELOPING STORY: NBA D-League Basketball Black Friday tips off today, Nov. 27 with six great matchups, including the first-ever NBA D-League game played in Springfield, Mass., the birthplace of basketball, when the Springfield Armor hosts the Iowa Energy at 7:00 p.m. ET. Also at 7:00 p.m., the defending Western Division Champion Utah Flash travels to take on the Tulsa 66ers, while the Maine Red Claws tip off their inaugural season in South Dakota against the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Fans can stay in step with the NBA D-League on opening night and all season long by logging onto nba.com/futurecast to watch every game live, for free.

FIRST GATORADE CALL-UP: On November 20, The Golden State Warriors signed Chris Hunter of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants making, him the first GATORADE Call-Up of the 2009-10 NBA Development League Season. Hunter joins 61 other NBA players with NBA D-League experience. The GATORADE Call-Up marks the second of Hunter's career, as he was signed by the New York Knicks on April 14, 2009.

63: An all-time high 63 players with NBA Development League experience highlighted the 2009-10 NBA opening day rosters. In just four years, the number of former NBA D-League players on NBA start-of-season rosters has nearly doubled, going from 35 on opening day in 2006-07 to 63 today. Twenty-nine of 30 NBA teams feature at least one player with NBA D-League experience, while the Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors each have four former NBA D-Leaguers on their respective rosters.

ASSIGNMENT BOARD: On November 13, 2009, the Houston Rockets assigned Joey Dorsey to the team's NBA D-League affiliate Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The assignment is the first of the NBA D-League season and the second time Dorsey will join the Vipers in his two-year NBA career. Dorsey's assignment also marks the first time the Rockets have assigned a player since assuming control of the Vipers' basketball operations as part of their single-affiliation partnership in June. Boston Celtics guard/forward Bill Walker was assigned to the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics' NBA Development League affiliate. The assignment is the first for Maine, which begins its inaugural season in the NBA D-League, and the second for Walker, who was assigned to the Utah Flash last season. The Oklahoma City Thunder assigned rookie center Byron Mullens and second-year guard Kyle Weaver to the Tulsa 66ers, the team's NBA Development League affiliate. The assignments are the first of Mullens' career and the second of Weavers'. Weaver has been recalled.

Player NBA Team D-League Team Date

Joey Dorsey Houston Rio Grande Valley 11/13/09

Bill Walker Boston Maine 11/21/09

Byron Mullens Oklahoma City Tulsa 11/21/09

NEW PLAYOFF FORMAT: The NBA Development League has expanded the playoff format for the 2009-10 season to three rounds of three-game series. For the first time, the eight qualifying teams will play best-of-three series in both the quarter- and semi-finals, leading up to the third consecutive year of best-of-three Final series. The Eastern and Western Conference winners, along with the next six teams with the best regular season records, regardless of conference, will qualify for the 2010 NBA D-League postseason, set to being as early as April 7, 2010.

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