Blue Comes up short 113-111.
Courtesy of Thunder Public Relations:
The Oklahoma City Blue fell to the Memphis Hustle 113-111, on Friday night.
The Blue held a five-point lead with 1:17 left to play before Jarrod Uthoff hit a three-pointer followed by a layup to knot the game at 111-all. Oklahoma City was unable to convert on the other end and Memphis sank two free throws with 6.1 seconds to go to remain undefeated.
“I want to start by giving credit to the Hustle,” Head Coach Grant Gibbs said. “They’re a really good, solid team and I thought it was a really well-played game by both teams. I felt we were competitive, we played together in stretches. I am happy with the effort, obviously not the outcome, but there’s a lot to learn from this one.”
Oklahoma City sank three straight three-pointers to open the game 13-2, finishing the frame up 33-19 and shooting 7-for-11 from three-point range to Memphis’ 0-for-7. The Hustle then generated a 21-5 run midway through the second quarter, but the Blue regained a 52-46 advantage at the break and entered the fourth ahead by seven. Oklahoma City held the lead for all but 53 seconds of action.
DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell led the Blue from the bench with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 shooting from long range. Myke Henry pitched in a double-double with 19 points and a game-high-tying 12 rebounds. Abdul Gaddy fell just shy of his own as he dished out a game-best and career-high 14 assists and scored nine points.
Justin Patton shot 7-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-3 from three to tally 16 points and six rebounds. Two-way players Luguentz Dort and Devon Hall each scored nine points with Dort adding six rebounds, seven assists and three steals and Hall draining three shots from beyond the arc and swatting two blocks.
Memphis assignment player Josh Jackson led the Hustle with a game-high 25 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, and two blocks.
Oklahoma City will complete the back-to-back tomorrow night, traveling to Texas to take on the Legends at 7:30 p.m. inside Comerica Center.
The Oklahoma City Blue has acquired guard Bazoumana Koné.
Koné (6-3, 180), was drafted 81st overall in the 2019 NBA G League draft by the Blue and was waived in training camp. He spent the 2018-19 season with Basketball Lowen Braunschweig of the German BBL where he appeared in 19 games and averaged 5.1 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 12.5 minutes per contest.
Blue guard Kethan Savage suffered a season-ending right foot injury, which allowed Oklahoma City to acquire Koné. Savage appeared in two games this season and averaged 1.0 point and 2.0 rebounds in 12.1 minutes per game.
