Jam has no answer for D-Fenders
| Saturday, Feb 28 2009 02:47 AM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 01:02 PM
The Jam was riding a three-game winning streak, the crowd was vocal and there were even a couple of NBA scouts in the house Friday night at Rabobank Arena.
It wasn’t enough.
The L.A. D-Fenders blew open a close game in the fourth quarter and cruised to a 96-83 victory in what Jam coach Scott Roth said was an overall sub-par effort.
“We played awful, really,” Roth said. “One of our nemesis has been points in the paint. They get 74 of them. That’s been a problem with us all year and it was tonight.”
The Jam, which beat the D-Fenders 106-100 on Thursday night at Staples Center, led by 10 midway though the second period. The D-Fenders erased that deficit, thanks in part to six lay ups, and led 42-41 at the half.
The game was tied at 66 with time running out in the third period when L.A.’s Brandon Heath threw up a running 3-pointer from about 40-feet out which sailed though the net at the buzzer. The D-Fenders never trailed after that.
“That helped their momentum but we weren’t playing well all game,” Roth said. “They just came in and really handed it to us. Some of our guys just didn’t step up their play, they struggled all night. Twenty turnovers (19 officially) ... it’s hard to win a game.” Derrick Byars led the Jam with 19 points and said the defensive play was inexcusable.
“It comes down to not taking pride on defense,” he said. “Whether it’s just laziness, a lack of concentration or whatever, it’s no excuse for the way we played defense in the fourth quarter. We didn’t play with the right amount of intensity and defensive awareness we should have.”
Dwayne Mitchell led the D-Fenders with 25 points and had four of his team-high assists (as well as eight points) in the fourth quarter.
Jeff Trepagnier scored 13 for the Jam with Nick Lewis getting 12 points on a rough night from the field, 4-for-18 and 1-for-6 from 3-point range. Mateen Cleaves had 11 points and a team-high 11 assists.
