G League Rio Grande Valley Vipers

Vipers Win Home Opener 83-82

Published on November 28, 2008 under NBA G League (G League)
Rio Grande Valley Vipers News Release


Trent Strickland scored a game high 24 points and hauled in eight rebounds as the Rio Grande Valley Vipers opened their season with a tight 83-82 victory over their division rival Tulsa 66ers Friday night at Dodge Arena. The Vipers are 2-0 in season openers after winning last season's inaugural contest over the Austin Toros.

The Vipers started the game sluggish as they allowed the 66ers to push the lead to 13-4 in the first quarter. The Vipers then took the lead after going on an 11-0 run and made the score 15-13. Rio Grande would push the lead to as many as 17 and would not surrender until Derrick Dial's fade away jumper with 1:55 remaining in regulation. Smush Parker made the final two free throws to seal the win for Rio Grande Valley.

Smush Parker finished the night with 14 points and nine rebounds will dishing out six assists and Quin Humphrey rounded out the double digit scores for Rio Grande Valley with 10 points. Derrick Dial finished the night a rebound shy of a double-double with his 20 points and nine rebounds.

The Vipers will play the second half of a back-to-back as they host the Utah Flash Saturday night at Dodge Arena with tip-off set for 7:00 pm.

The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are a professional basketball team in the NBA Development League (NBA D-League). The NBA Development League, founded in 2001, is the NBA's official minor league and features 16 teams with direct affiliations to NBA teams. The league has produced 15 percent of the players on 2007-08 end-of-season NBA rosters and continues to develop current NBA coaches and referees. In fostering the league's connection to the community, its teams, players and staff promote youth basketball, support local needs and interests, and assist in educational development through NBA D-League Cares programs. The NBA D-League also advances the game of basketball as the research and development arm of the NBA. Throughout this season fans can watch all NBA D-League games on NBA Futurecast, the free live Web-streaming initiative found at nba.com/futurecast. The Vipers NBA affiliates are the Houston Rockets, and the New Orleans Hornets.

Check out the Rio Grande Valley Vipers Statistics

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NBA G League Stories from November 28, 2008


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