If there’s one thing predictable about NBA G League basketball it’s that NBA G League basketball is entirely unpredictable.
A day after the Birmingham Squadron handed the Rio Grande Valley Vipers a 19-point loss, RGV returned the favor – with interest – in a 132-99 thrashing of the home side in front of 1,631 fans Saturday at Legacy Arena.
It was the franchise’s worst loss since moving to Birmingham in 2021.
The New Orleans Pelicans’ affiliates slip to 5-6 in Showcase Cup play, while the Houston Rockets’ farm club improves to 7-5.
The dynamic duo of forward Cam Whitmore and center Jermaine Samuels Jr. helped the visitors take the mystery out of this one early with buckets from all over the court – and they never let up.
Whitmore had 42 points while Samuels had a double-double with 29 points and 13 rebounds.
The Vipers led by as many as 51 points in the third quarter.
“It’s not just one of those nights … it turned into one of those nights,” Birmingham coach T. J. Saint said. “We missed a plethora of shots at the rim that led to transition points in the first half. They’re extremely talented, and some human nature stuff sets in and you just don’t feel as good about yourself, and it ballooned to 50.
“Obviously we weren’t going to win the game at that point, but we challenged them to win the fourth quarter, which we did (30-23). We’re building for the next 38 or 39 games, whatever it is.”
Rio Grande Valley also got 18 points from Jarrett Culver and 10 from Shawn Occeus while dominating the game on the boards, 57-40.
Izaiah Brockington paced Birmingham with 24 points, Trey Jemison had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Malcolm Hill, Devin Cannady and Pavel Savkov scored 12 each.
Jalen Crutcher closed out double-figure Squadron scorers with 10 points.
Savkov, the team’s lone 2023 draft pick, was a bright spot in the defeat. Playing just under 10 minutes, his 12 points came from four-of-five shooting from 3-point distance.
“He came in in the Memphis game and did kinda the same thing,” Saint said. “He always tells me he’ll stay ready and every single time he has been. Those minutes for him are minutes where you look at rotations, and he’s still earning his credentials like everybody else so those minutes were super important.”
The Vipers threatened to run the Squadron out of its own building in the first quarter, racing out to a 36-21 lead.
While Rio Grande Valley was scoring from the inside and outside, Birmingham was struggling mightily. The Vipers shot at a 64 percent clip, and the Squadron was hitting just 41 percent and going oh-for-seven from 3-point range.
Although Saint’s club finally broke the ice from beyond the arc in the second frame things got even worse, with Samuels and Whitmore taking over the game and RGV dominating in the paint.
By halftime the Squadron was staring up from a 72-47 crater, and Samuels was already good for 21 points and seven rebounds and Whitmore accounted for 17 points.
The third quarter was more of the same and with the outcome already settled, RGV coach Kevin Burleson made wholesale lineup changes. At one point he went up and down the bench and asked “Have you played?”
The eventual winners entered the fourth stanza with a 109-69 lead and shifted into cruise control from there.
Small ball: Cannady took a brief hiatus from the Squadron to participate in the USA Basketball AmeriCup 3×3 tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
On December 2 he helped Team USA defeat Jamaica, 22-13, scoring four points and snatching four rebounds.
In a 21-12 victory over Argentina, he had seven points and three boards. That game was also played on December 2.
Finally – in an 18-16 loss to the Dominican Republic on December 3 in the quarterfinals – he tallied four points.
In 3×3 competition, shots inside the arc and from the free throw line are worth one point, outside the arc shots score two, and the halfcourt game lasts 10 minutes, with the clock stopping on dead balls and foul shots.
OTD in 1947: The Birmingham Vulcans of the Southern Professional Basketball League defeated the Jackson (Mississippi) Senators, 54-47.
Wheeler Flemming helped the Vulcans rally from a halftime deficit with hot-shooting, closing out the contest with a game-high 24 points.
OTD in 1948: The Birmingham Steelers of the SPBL defeated the Nashville Vols, 74-72, for their fifth consecutive victory to start the 1948-49 season.
With the Steelers trailing 68-62, Darrell Lorance scored three quick buckets to knot the score and finished with 27 points to keep Birmingham perfect.
Next up: The Squadron closes out its homestand Monday when the Memphis Hustle comes to Legacy Arena for a 7 p.m. start.
It’ll be the team’s final home game of 2023.