Westchester Knicks repeat as G-League Winter Showcase champions

Tyler Kolek was named Showcase Finals MVP.

While the grown-up Knicks flew home from New Orleans to get ready for tonight’s clash with the Raptors in MSG, the farm Knicks were in Orlando at the Orange County Convention Center going for their second consecutive Winter Showcase title against the Sioux Falls SkyForce (MIA). After an early deficit, the baby ‘Bockers exploded offensively for a 125-119 victory. As a reward for their victory, each player will split a $100,000 grand prize, which may not sound like much, but $10,000 is great for guys on two-way deals and the G-Leaguers who bounce around, hoping for a shot in the bigs.

Westchester’s path to this title was anything but regular. As an FYI, the G-League season hasn’t officially started yet. This is a preseason tournament, in essence. The format has teams play in 14 games in one of four pods, with the top eight of the 31 teams advancing to the Winter Showcase Knockout Round. The Knicks started 4-4 and needed to finish extremely strong to get in.

They won six straight to get in, with occasional help from the rookies going down on assignment. They notched the fourth seed with a 10-4 record and faced the Valley Suns in the first round on Thursday. The Suns came out hot and bludgeoned the Knicks in the first half, but a solid double-digit comeback advanced them with a 127-119 win, buoyed by strong games by TJ Warren and Damion Baugh. None of the rookies played.

In the second round, they faced the Denver affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold. The Knicks built a 22-point lead but got a scare late from Grand Rapids, ultimately holding on with a 113-108 win. Donovan Williams scored 23, Baugh and Warren had 17, and both Hukporti (8 and 7) and Dadiet (7 and 3) played.

In last night’s title game, they faced a team led by NBA veterans Nassir Little and Josh Christopher, who combined for 59. The two teams traded blows early, but Sioux Falls got their lead up to 13 in the second. TJ Warren took over for a stretch to keep them in the game.

In the third, Westchester went on a ballistic run to permanently take control. After falling behind 82-78, they finished the quarter on a 22-6 run, as Tyler Kolek found the range several times in his first game of the Showcase.

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The fourth was about trading blows and the Knicks had an answer for every SkyForce mini-run. After the lead was cut to eight with under four to go, they quickly scored on back-to-back possessions

The final score was a tad closer than how the game went, as Sioux Falls made a run at the very end. Westchester is the first team to win back-to-back titles in the Showcase over the past two decades of existence.

TJ Warren led the team in scoring with 24 points on 9-20 FG and 3-11 3pt. Warren is averaging 25.1 points a game on 51.8 FG% on the season with Westchester and is a compelling 10-day candidate down the road, whenever the Knicks need it out of necessity (if they can even fit it under the hard cap, that is).

Tyler Kolek showed out on his assignment, scoring 22 points and dishing out eleven assists on 9-16 FG and 3-7 3pt. This G-League exposure can only do well for Kolek, not dissimilar to Deuce McBride balling out before exploding onto the scene.

Pacome Dadiet had 11 points and 4 rebounds, Ariel Hukporti had eight points and three rebounds, and both Donovan Williams and Damion Baugh had sixteen points. Moses Brown was an impressive +25 with 14 points and 16 rebounds. Brown was returned to Westchester earlier this month after he was waived by the Pacers.

Next up for Westchester is the formal regular season, which begins on December 27 against the Motor City Cruise at home in the Westchester County Center. Hopefully, this isn’t the only hardware won by a team named the Knicks this season.