As the NBA Development League semifinals approached, many around the league felt Rio Grande Valley possessed the best inside game of the four remaining teams.
Unfortunately for the Tulsa 66ers, Rio Grande Valley proved the pundits right on Friday night.
Rio Grande Valley outscored Tulsa 56-22 inside the paint as the Vipers beat the 66ers 107-92 and grabbed a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three semifinal matchup.
Game 2 is set for 5 p.m. Sunday in Hidalgo, Texas.
In this battle between the affiliates of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets, who will meet on Sunday in the opener of their NBA playoff series, Rio Grande Valley benefitted from a balanced offensive attack, with seven players scoring in double digits.
"We knew this team (Rio Grande Valley) has a lot of offensive tools, and tonight we couldn't stop them in transition or stop them from getting easy points," said Tulsa head coach Darko Rajakovic.
"We have to be more aggressive in Game 2 and we need to make them take tough shots. We didn't do that tonight."
During a first half that featured nine lead changes and four ties, Rio Grande Valley led 48-45 before grabbing control of the game. The Vipers finished the half on a 7-2 spurt as part of a second quarter that saw the visitors outscore Tulsa 31-20.
Down by eight at halftime, Tulsa opened the second half riding the hot hand of Rasual Butler, who drained a short jumper and 3-pointer on successive possessions. Rio Grande Valley, however, answered as D.J. Kennedy responded to each Butler bucket with a 3-pointer, sapping the 66ers' momentum.
Kennedy led Rio Grande Valley with 19 points, including 10 in the third quarter.
After Kennedy's hot streak gave the Vipers a push right after intermission, Tulsa tried to battle back from a double-digit deficit for most of the second half.
The 66ers couldn't come any closer than nine points for the remainder of the game, with Jeremy Lamb's 3-pointer slicing the Viper lead to 99-90 with 3:35 to play.
Rio Grande Valley quickly did away with any thought of a 66er comeback by allowing just a DeAndre Liggins layup the rest of the game, outscoring the 66ers 8-2 to close the contest.
A pair of Thunder assignees paced the 66ers as Lamb finished with 29 points while Liggins added 20 and a team-high nine rebounds.
D-League semifinals
Best-of-three
Game 1: Rio Grande Valley 107, 66ers 92
Game 2: 5 p.m. Sunday at RGV
Game 3: 7 p.m. Tuesday at RGV (if necessary)
Original Print Headline: Vipers take down 66ers in Game 1
Pro - 66ers
The Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League have announced plans for an open tryout.
The Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League tip off their season with back-to-back home games Nov. 22-23 against the Iowa Energy.
