Los Angeles D-Fenders Dump Sioux Falls Skyforce
A late lead was erased by timely long distance shooting and the Los Angeles D-Fenders rallied for a 125-120 triumph over the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
Midway through the fourth quarter L.A. (21-6) had connected on only 4 or 23 from downtown and trailed 117-105. Finding the proper three-point stroke was key to the 20-3 run that concluded the contest by converting their last four bombs. Two of them were in back-to-back fashion by the league’s number two scorer Vander Blue.
Conversely, Sioux Falls (20-8) only hit one bucket in the last 4:38 as the flow went completely the other way. This marked the second time in the last six days that the top two teams in the Western Conference had gone toe-to-toe.
The loss also marked the first time this season that the Skyforce had lost consecutive games. It’s been almost a year since the team last had a losing streak when three straight setbacks occurred from January 30-February 5, 2016.
Blue came away with a game-high 37 points and 7 rebounds. Two double-doubles came from the D-Fenders’ side with Jeff Ayres (15 points, 14 rebounds) and David Nwaba (14 points, 13 rebounds).
Patrick Miller led Sioux Falls by posting another career high 32 points with 7 assists. Ike Nwamu led the bench brigade with a stellar shooting night with 23 points on 8 of 10 shooting.
Sioux Falls returns home to face the Oklahoma City Blue. Los Angeles will play on Sunday as a guest of the Austin Spurs.