OKC Blue: DJ Wilson Propels Blue In Winter Showcase Thriller
With the Oklahoma City Blue depleted of G League assignments and a pot of $100,000 at stake – Grant Gibbs’ squad rose up to the occasion Sunday evening, defeating the Rio Grande Valley Vipers 119-113 in an overtime thriller.
As a result of the victory, the Oklahoma City Blue’s hopes at a Winter Showcase Cup remain alive, now advancing to the semifinals versus the Motor City Cruise.
The Blue pitched an interior-outburst in the first frame, commanding a 17-4 lead through five minutes across 16 points in the paint, and a 33-21 margin by the first quarter’s horn.
The ball continued to roll in the Blue’s favor in the second period as an opening 11-3 pitted the Valley Vipers into a 20-point hole. By halftime, Oklahoma City’s paint play notched a 56-42 lead, headlined by 48 points in the paint.
The Blue fell victim to the Vipers’ venom in the third quarter, piling up a 1-of-20 three-point clip with Rio Grande packing the paint. As a result, the Valley Vipers slithered into single digits for an 83-76 Blue lead.
In the final frame, Rio Grande’s plan yielded even more success by leaving Zavier Simpson wide open triples late for a 1-of-4 output. With the misfires, the Vipers wiggled out of an 11-point deficit to post a four-minute, 16-5 run to notch the game 109-all by regulation.
The overtime period saw the Blue return to the paint as a three-consecutive interior hits, including an and-one, posted Oklahoma City up four with under a minute to play. Rio Grande had no response, ending the period shooting 1-of-6.
Oklahoma City's shaky 6-of-33 (18.2%) three-point clip nearly cost themselves the game, but with a season-high 78 points in the paint – they managed to slip by.
DJ Wilson caught scouts’ attention Sunday, finishing his 36-minute cut with 31 points (14-of-20 FG) and 15 rebounds. Wilson’s attacks came early-and-often as the 25-year-old abused his 6-foot-7 matchup for 7 points in the first 4 minutes, and a 19-point 10-rebound double-double by halftime. In addition to paint-play, Wilson tapped into the midrange while also driving the ball inside himself for a pair of isolation scores.
Had the Blue lost, many would peg Zavier Simpson’s aforementioned “Andre Roberson treatment” as the catalyst for defeat. That would’ve been far from the truth. Despite Captain Hook shooting 1-of-9 from deep, the guard drained his man on penetrations to the tune of 18 points and 10 assists. Simpson saved the Blue in the final play of regulation as the guard slipped mid-drive before finding a cutting Wilson for the game-tying basket.
Vit Krejci neared a triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists in a 30-minute cut. The 6-foot-8 guard made use of his height advantage as a slasher (4-of-8 FG,) but his strongest suit came as a distributor. Krejci unloaded a slew of cross-court passes Sunday, including a crucial overtime bucket, while also dishing on two fastbreak assists.
Jaylen Hoard and Melvin Frazier Jr. perfected their roles as slashers as both starters clocked 13 points and 11 points, respectively, solely off of drive attempts.
Despite a frugal seven minutes of run, Michael Gbinije took the role of hero for the Blue. After being out-of-rotation all year, Gbinije reinvigorated the group with an 11-point effort (4-of-6 FG) all inside the fourth frame.
The sixth-seeded Oklahoma City Blue will take a one-day stoppage before returning to tournament-play on Tuesday versus the seventh-seeded Motor City Cruise.
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