College Article Feature: Stars Sweep Oklahoma City at Home

Written by Will Naughton | Weber State University

The Salt Lake City Stars closed out their clean sweep double-header against the Oklahoma City Blue with a 123-106 home win at the Maverick Center that brought their record in the NBA G League regular season to 11-13 on Feb. 20.

Max Abmas set the SLC pace with 28 points that were complemented by Sean East II with 26 and Justin Harmon with 23. Matthew Cleveland (15) and Mo Bamba (14) also reached double digit scoring on the night.

OKC (7-16) tipped the game off with a 9-0 scoring run for the early lead, but the opening 12 minutes had surprises in store with seven lead changes in a close-run exchange of baskets as East II and Harmon dropped five points each for the hosts. With 12.4 seconds on the clock, new Stars signing Elijah Cain sank a three-pointer from the left wing to close the period with a 28-26 edge.

The sides stayed close on the scoreboard for much of the second quarter, but a further 14 points from East II propelled the Stars to a 64-56 halftime lead despite the defensive efforts from the Blue.

Following the break, Salt Lake came out of the locker room and picked up where they left off on the scoring front. At 5:30, Cleveland converted from a running layup to expand the Stars’ cushion to 16 points as Abmas dropped 12 third-frame points to set up the final 12 minutes at 93-81 for the home side.

Despite Cleveland leaving the court with an ankle injury, the Stars kept their foot on the gas and were able to extend their lead to a game-high 22 points when East II set up Bamba for an alley-oop dunk that electrified the 2785 home fans. Ultimately, the Blue could not keep up and the night ended with SLC coming out on top by 17 points.

Along with his 23 points, East II notched a game-high eight assists as the Stars’ playmaker as Bamba came up big in the paint again with 13 total rebounds in what was his 14th double-double of the season.

OKC were led on offense by Jabri Abdur-Rahim’s 20 points from the bench and Chris Youngblood’s 17 from the starting five. Up against a determined Salt Lake defense, the Blue were limited to a success rate of just 26.2% from behind the arc.

The Stars, who currently sit 11th in the Western Conference, now face a double-header away from home at the second placed Mexico City Capitanes (14-7) on Feb. 22 and Feb. 24.