LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Behind a dominating win, and with some help in standings, the NBA G League Ignite on Saturday clinched a playoff berth and will play at least one more game in their inaugural season.
Amir Johnson produced a game-high 27 points, on a perfect 12-of-12 shooting from the field, Isaiah Todd scored a season-high 25 points and 11 rebounds and Jalen Green had 18 points during the 127-92 win over the Austin Spurs at AdventHealth Arena.
The 35-point margin of victory was the largest of the season for the Ignite.
The Ignite trailed 11-4 early to begin the contest but used a 17-0 run to pull ahead of the Spurs. The group, led by the play of Johnson, led comfortably throughout the rest of the game to finish the regular season with an 8-7 record and claim the final playoff spot.
“Everybody brought their best,” Ignite head coach Brian Shaw said. “We had 33 assists, 19 at halftime, and that energized us on the defensive end. This may be the most complete and the best game we’ve played in the bubble offensively and defensively. We did it when it counted against a team where we were the underdog.”
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The play of Johnson, who had just four games this season in double figures, came when the Ignite needed it most.
Johnson entered the season as one of the veterans on the roster and has often given the young prospects plenty of advice this season off the court. His performance proved he still has plenty to give on the court, which made his young teammates proud.
“Man, Amir is my guy,” Todd said. “His room is right next to mine. I pick his brain all of the time. For me to see that firsthand from Amir, I was just so happy for him. I’m probably going to throw some water on him later. It gave me butterflies when I saw him doing that.”
From the jump, the Ignite looked to be a team eager to win after dropping their last three games by an average of 18.6 points. They dominated several statistical categories, including rebounding, assists and points in the paint, and shot 55.7% from the field, a season-high.
Entering play on Saturday, the Ignite needed a win over the Spurs and a loss by the OKC Blue to advance to the playoffs. Prior to the Ignite tipping off, Jeremy Lin led the Santa Cruz Warriors to an overtime win over the Blue just steps away at HP Field House to help the Ignite stay alive.
The Ignite were locked into that contest prior to facing the Spurs.
“I wasn’t scoreboard-watching because I don’t even know how to pull up the game on my phone, to be honest with you,” Shaw said. “Everybody else on the bus did have the game on their phone so they were kind of calling out what the score was. By the time we got here to the arena, we knew the Warriors had won and then it was on us to win or go home.”
Playoffs begin Monday #NextIsNow pic.twitter.com/cDZeRSGm2e
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) March 7, 2021
Now, the Ignite will prepare to begin the playoffs starting on Monday versus the Raptors 905, the top seed in the league. The Ignite previously beat the 905 on Feb. 13 but Shaw and the team know they are a different group from when they previously beat them.
“We all share a group chat and we always send each other motivating stuff,” Johnson said. “We usually text to see where everybody’s mindset is and everybody on the team is just hungry. Everybody on the team (wants) to win this whole championship. Everybody’s mindset is on winning and everybody is still hungry.”
The Ignite versus 905 will tip off at 3:45 p.m. EST on ESPN2.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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