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Lakers: LA D-Fenders Beat Oklahoma City Blue, Vander Blue Shines

By Shereen Rayan

Apr 15, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Vander Blue (12) dribbles against Sacramento Kings guard Nik Stauskas (10) in the first half during the game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 15, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Vander Blue (12) dribbles against Sacramento Kings guard Nik Stauskas (10) in the first half during the game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Saturday the Lakers D-League team, the LA D-Fenders (15-14) took on the he Oklahoma City Blues (10-20) and came out victorious

The Los Angeles D-Fenders took on the Oklahoma City Blues Saturday night at the Lakers practice facility in a packed house. In addition to serving as the Lakers new practice facility and office space, the Lakers actually are building a new facility in El Segundo, which will become the new home for the D-Fenders.

Saturday, the D-Fenders had the luxury of having Lakers’ big man, Tarik Black, on the team, and he started the game with a bang… but not the good kind. Sixteen seconds into the game, Black fouled rookie JP Tokoto. Then shortly afterward his teammate for the night, Justin Harper, was called for a second team foul and it was only one minute into the game!

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Head coach Casey Owens was thankful to have Black on his team saying,

"I think it’s really valuable [having him], if there aren’t minutes on the Lakers right now, it’s great that the parent club shows the appreciation and understands what the D-Fenders are for."

When asked about how Black affects team chemistry he explained,

"Yeah I mean it’s difficult because he doesn’t get a practice or a shoot-around, But he’s been with us enough that he has a kind of skeleton of understanding in what we do, so he fits in pretty well. We make adjustments, we haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks, it’s very hard, we can’t do our full package — but he fits in well with us."

Something that must be mentioned is that when Black’s in the rotation, Robert Upshaw usually sits on the bench for more minutes than he would like. Saturday, Upshaw got into the game late in the second quarter and his presence made a difference driving to the basket and drawing fouls.

On a side note, Upshaw is hilarious off the court, during our interview with Blue, Upshaw was dancing and goofing off behind him to shake him up, we couldn’t help but laugh.

Coach Owens took Black out of the rotation early on, mostly because of foul trouble but it was Vander Blue, not Black, who led the team with eight points early on.

After the first quarter, the D-Fenders were still behind 31-28 after they had finally evened up the score at 28, only to have Blue’s Dez Wells swish a three as the buzzer sounded. However, the D-Fenders defense stepped up half way through the second quarter pushing ahead 36-33, and that’s when Vander Blue turned on his jets.

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Oklahoma City did not wake up in the third quarter, as the D-Fenders pulled ahead by 16 up 79-63.Entering the fourth, it was anyone’s game to win, but the D-Fenders should not have been in that position.

Ryan Gomes was key, as he kept the D-Fenders in the game with a clutch shots.

Gomes plays with an envious ease and when asked about it he revealed,

"I feel like got some wide open opportunities that I had to make, especially the one close to the end of the game when they made a run. I came down for the play and I was wide open, and I might as well take it, and I was able to make it and we got a stop again, and then Vander came in and hit another one and pushed it back to ten. I think that was a key moment in the game."

One thing was for sure, this was not Josh Magette’s game as he finished 4-of-16 from the field. That said, he did have six rebounds and ten assists, which his teammates appreciated. Eventually, the D-Fenders won their 15th game, with a final score of 99-90.

Vander Blue was the top scorer with 31 points, seven rebounds, and one assist. Tarik Black earned a double-double making 14 rebounds and scoring 15 points, but his defense is what helped the D-Fenders in this game. Gomes went 8-of-16 from the field scoring 22 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing five assists.

Gomes explained how the team has been doing saying,

"If you look at our six or seven games, we have played really good defense, especially our last two, we held our opponents under 100 points and that’s going to win games and that’s what we have to instill, we just got over 500 with our win tonight."

Gomes went on to explain that the D-Fenders will be playing nine out of their next eleven games at home, and the team wants to make sure they capitalize on this.

“Hopefully, there at the end, we won’t have to be trying to win our last, you know, three out of four games to get in the playoffs.”

Next: Stephen A Smith Talks Durant/Westbrook to LA

Be sure to tune in next Saturday for their game against the Rio Grande Vipers, led by former Arizona Wildcat and Lute Olson’s grandson, head coach Matt Brase. It should be a very intense and great game to watch, so don’t miss it in person or on TV.

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