Heartland Hoops: Kansas City Revival | MyLeague Relocation Story

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Knights Pull Away from Raptors in the Fourth for 123-104 Win


Tobias Harris did it all with 22 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals in Kansas City's 123-104 win.

November 2, 2016
"Man, if every game could just be that easy, am I right?" Harvey asked his general manager Troy Weaver.

"That was some beautiful basketball, especially in the fourth quarter," Troy responded with a grin on his face. Coming into tonight's game, the Knights were off to a 1-3 start and had just lost a close game in Boston to the Celtics. He was feeling frustrated, mostly because the bench hadn't really been producing. He knew, if anything, the bench would be the achilles heel of the team this year, but he still liked some of the pieces he signed like Donatas and Isaiah Canaan, two excellent 3P shooters relative to their position, and Mario had an excellent rookie year last season. But, before tonight, they had been very underwhelming.

Tonight, though, was different. The bench only scored 28 points, nothing overly impressive, but going into the fourth quarter they had only scored nine points. So when Scott Skiles started the fourth quarter with an all-bench lineup, Troy got nervous. It was just a one point game at the time, after all. But by the time the first starters came into the game, Kansas City's bench had outscored the Raptors 19-12 and opened up the lead to 12 points. The entire fourth quarter was picturesque basketball, the ball zipping around the perimeter, open shooters rewarding the team's ball movement by draining threes, and bigs in the high post hitting cutters to the basket for easy layups. All-in-all, they finished the game with 41 assists and shot 9-for-21 from three, which was great when you consider they started 1-for-8 from three.

By the end of the fourth, the Knights had outscored the Raptors 41-23 and turned a one point lead after three quarters into a comfortable 19 point win. Sure, the Raptors were now 0-5, but Troy wasn't going to let that ruin this feeling. He saw the potential this team, the one he helped put together, had and how lethal they can be with all the shooters and young athletes up and down the roster.

[trekfan]

NICE WIN. Double OT classic, look out below! Brandon Ingram doing work, super-pleased with his performance. Love the pairing of him, Jennings, and Gordon; that trio is going to knock down some shots, one of them is bound to be feeling it on any given night.

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Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

NICE WIN. Double OT classic, look out below! Brandon Ingram doing work, super-pleased with his performance. Love the pairing of him, Jennings, and Gordon; that trio is going to knock down some shots, one of them is bound to be feeling it on any given night.

I thought I had that Grizzlies game won in regulation. After Gordon hit that three to put me up by one with about 25 seconds left, I got a stop and the Grizzlies had to foul me. Jennings made both FTs with about 13 seconds to go, the Conley came down and hit a crazy, awkward runner, got fouled, and made the FTs to tie the game.

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Nikola Vucevic Grabs 30 Boards, Scores 27 Points in Kansas City's 110-106 Win Over Detroit

Nikola Vucevic (27 points, 30 rebounds) bested Andre Drummond (16 points, 15 rebounds) in a match-up between the NBA's two leading rebounders.

November 6, 2016
On this night, the 2-4 Detroit Pistons were more than worthy competition for the Kansas City Knights. After Andre Drummond got an offensive rebound and put it back in late in the third quarter to give the Pistons a nine point lead, things were looking grim for the Knights who had been playing from behind virtually all game. Fortunately Mario Hezonja gave the Knights some life by hitting a buzzer beating three to cut the lead to six heading into the fourth quarter. Momentum finally got on Kansas City's side after Nikola Vucevic scored six straight points to turn a 92-87 Detroit lead into a 93-92 Kansas City lead. A few plays later, with the score the same, Tobias Harris picked up a tipped pass heading out of bounds, went up for a slam, and was knocked hard to the ground by Andre Drummond who was whistled for a flagrant foul. Harris calmly sank both FTs to give the Knights a 95-92 lead. Brandon Jennings used a Vucevic screen to score an uncontested layup on the ensuing possession, and just like that the Knights had a 97-92 lead after a 10-0 run.

After Luol Deng scored five straight points a few minutes later to make it a 104-102 game in Kansas City's favor, Jennings recorded his 11th assist as he hit a cutting Vucevic who slammed it home for his 27th point of the ballgame. The Knights had a 105-102 lead with 1:11 remaining in the game. Victor Oladipo drew a foul on Detroit's next possession and sank both FTs to make it a one point game. After a Pistons turnover, Jennings rang up another dime, this time to Tobias Harris who smoothly laid it in to give the Knights a 107-104 lead with 31 seconds remaining.

Disaster, then good fortune struck next for the Knights as Victor Oladipo drew a foul on a three-point attempt. However, he missed all three FTs and Vucevic grabbed his 30th, yes 30th, rebound of the game. Needing a bucket to seal the game, the Knights fed the ball to their big man; but when the Pistons sent a hard double team at him, Vucevic kicked it out to a wide-open Brandon Ingram at the top of the key who released a three-pointer that bounced around and hit every part of the rim before falling in, giving the Knights a 110-104 lead and the ballgame. The three-pointer put Ingram over the 20-point threshold for the third time in the first seven games in his rookie season.

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Knights Drop Pair to Eastern Conference Contenders

The Kansas City Knights were coming off a stretch where they won four of their last five games to get over .500 early in the season. However, the daunting task of road games at Indiana and at Chicago somewhat humbled the young Knight squad. Coming off a high scoring 128-116 win at Toronto, where nine Kansas City players scored double figures, it seemed as if the Knights were hitting their stride. Unfortunately a game in Indiana the following night quickly reminded them how fluid the NBA season can be. The NBA's leading rebounder, Nikola Vucevic, failed to record a double-double for the first time this season, as he was saddled with foul trouble the entire game and eventually fouled out with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter. It wouldn't have mattered. After going into the halftime locker room tied, the Pacers outscored the Knights 36-23 in the third quarter and never looked back on their way to a 109-92 win.

Rookie Brandon Ingram struggled on both ends of the floor, scoring just four points on 2-for-7 shooting while his man, Paul George, scored an effortless 33 points on 10-for-20 shooting. Newly acquired Pau Gasol chipped in with a 17 point, 11 rebound double-double as the Pacers improved to 6-4 on the season.

Three nights later the Knights had no answer for the Bulls. Jimmy Butler assumed the rare role of facilitator on his way to a career high 13 assists. Butler also chipped in with 16 points on just eight field goal attempts. While Butler did most of the heavy lifting through the first three quarters to keep the Knights at bay, it was Nikola Mirotic who made sure Kansas City never had a chance to threaten, scoring 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter. Nikola Vucevic got back on the double-double track with his fifth 20+ rebound game of the season and Brandon Ingram rebounded from his four point performance against the Pacers witih 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting.

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Knights Cruise Past Pacers 109-90



Mario Hezonja needed just 18 points to score 22 points on 13 shots in Kansas City's 109-90 win over the Pacers.