Only two of the past four NBA G League seasons have been under what could be considered “normal” circumstances.
In 2020, the season was cut short due to COVID. In 2019 the league played a shortened season all in a “bubble” in Orlando, Florida.
However, 2019 and this year were “normal.” And both years ended the same way: with the RGV Vipers being crowned G League champions.
Mfiondu Kabengele scored 29 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked six shots – two nights after setting a league championship series record with eight blocks – as the Vipers erupted for 43 points in the first quarter and never trailed thereafter en route to a 131-114 victory over the Delaware Blue Coats and a two-game sweep to bring home their league-leading fourth NBA G League trophy. No other team has more than two and no other squad has made more than four appearances in the finals. This was the sixth season that ended in the finals for the Vipers, falling in two of them.
League MVP Trevelin Queen started slow then found his mark often, finishing the game with 24 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Queen averaged 34 points per game during the finals and was named the NBA G League Finals MVP.
“I can’t put into words how happy I am for my team and my coaches and the fans and the RGV. I’m lost for words, I wasn’t looking for awards or accolades but playing for a championship,” Queen said after the game. “This shows no matter what you go through, you can always be a champion and do better in life.”
Daishen Nix, who signed a full NBA contract with the Houston Rockets earlier this season, added 18 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals. The Rockets assigned Nix back to the Vipers for the postseason and he made a huge impact, finishing Game 1 with a triple-double before repeating that feat again Thursday.
The Vipers will have a celebration, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, with details to be announced today.
RGV led 104-86 entering the fourth quarter but the Blue Coats, the second-highest scoring team in the league, only behind the Vipers, would not go away and closed the gap to 124-114 with 2:33 remaining in the contest. Kabengele, who has been dominant during the series, dunked with 1:33 remaining, Christian Vital added a 3-pointer, his fourth of the night and 13th by the Vipers, and Marcus Foster sealed the victory with a dunk with 45 seconds remaining.
Once again, rebounding was the biggest difference. The Vipers crashed the glass for 59 total rebounds, 19 coming from the offensive glass, while the Blue Coats pulled down 41, 13 of them coming offensively.
Defense was also in the Vipers’ favor as they held Delaware to 39% shooting from the floor overall while shooting 45% themselves. The Vipers also managed 14 blocked shots, led by Kabengele’s six. Most of the rosters this year showed larger teams than the Vipers. However, the Vipers still led the league in overall rebounding, offensive rebounding and scoring — maybe not bigger, but arguably stronger and faster, thus the fourth trophy bearing the RGV name.
“We’re the bigger team out there,” Queen said after Tuesday’s Game 1 victory. “We knew we would have to crash the glass and play like the bigger team.”
