The NBA G League playoffs don’t begin until April, but Sunday’s clash between the Birmingham Squadron and Long Island Nets at Legacy Arena most definitely had a postseason vibe.
The visiting Nets – affiliates of Brooklyn – started the afternoon in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, clinging to the final available playoff position.
The New Orleans Pelicans’ developmental club, on the other hand, was one and half games behind Long Island in the standings.
When it all shook out, 2,124 fans saw the Nets hold onto their spot and make Birmingham’s job harder with a 115-112 victory.
“We talked about before the game and halftime (how it was a playoff atmosphere) and that they’re a good team,” Squadron coach T.J. Saint said. “I think they’ve been in the most clutch games this season, and we’re 12-5 in clutch games. We’ve had a lot of them go our way and that one didn’t … it was unfortunate, and a tough loss.”
Malcolm Hill led Birmingham (13-14) with 23 points, followed by Jalen Crutcher (22), Dereon Seabron (18), Izaiah Brockington (16), Karlo Matkovic (16) and E.J. Liddell (10).
Patrick Gardner and Keon Johnson came off the bench to add 23 and 20 points, respectively, for the winners, who improve to 15-11.
Kaider Gates and Kyler Edwards each chipped in 13 points for Long Island, Jacob Gilyard added 12 and David Muoka netted 10.
With just 12 minutes left the Nets led by one, 88-87, setting the stage for a frantic finish.
With 5:51 to go Gardner nailed a 25-foot trey to put Long Island in front, 102-97, and moments later a Johnson layup increased the lead to seven at 104-97.
Seabron cut it to 104-99 on a short jumper and the Nets were teed-up, giving Birmingham a free throw that closed the gap to 104-100.
With 3:08 showing on the clock Matkovic’s bucket sliced the deficit to 107-104, and at 2:13, Hill’s 3-pointer knotted things up at 107-107.
But a Gardner layup made it 109-107 at the 1:50 juncture, and Gilyard hit two foul shots with 14.2 seconds left to give the visitors a 111-107 cushion.
Hill then sank two freebies, but Birmingham was still down, 111-109.
Gilyard had a chance to ice it at the line with :05 to go and hit both shots to make it 113-109.
Hill connected on a late three, but the Squadron was still one point shy.
Nate Pierre-Louis added two charity shots with a second left, and Birmingham never got a good look on the game’s final play.
“That last play we were trying to run into somebody and get a tip, and that’s just really hard to execute,” Saint said.
Crutcher scored the first eight points for Birmingham and finished a high-octane opening quarter with 11 points. Matkovic came off the bench to tally nine points, and the Squadron entered the second quarter on top, 40-29.
The pace slowed considerably over the second 12 – and the home team cooled off – but Hill and Matkovic joined Crutcher in twin-figures and helped Birmingham hold a 65-62 edge at the break.
Long Island led by as many as seven in the third quarter, thanks in large part to the scoring prowess of Gardner, Gates and Edwards, and were on top 88-87 going into the fourth.
Next up: The Squadron finishes up its two-game set with the Nets on Tuesday at 11 a.m.
OTD in 1992: The Birmingham Bandits of the Continental Basketball Association lost to the Rapid City Thrillers, 107-100.
Jim Farmer led Birmingham with 24 points while Skeeter Henry scored 20 in the loss. The biggest news of the night, however, came from Birmingham general manager Tom Maloney. He announced that Bandits owner Tom McMillen was attempting to sell the team and the chances of it remaining in Birmingham were “70-30 against.”