Week 3 of the Summer CAL was another solid effort by all teams but one cleary showed they are the team to beat. With 2 games on Thursday, the Pistons with only 5 guys, proved they are the best team in the league. In the first game of the night, they took on the Sixers. Early on, it was all John Snyder. His 18 first half points along with Jeff Blomdahl's 8 helped the Pistons build a 36-23 halftime lead. In the second half, things did not get much better for the Sixers. Despite a terrific effort by Captain Doug Stranges who had 25, the Sixers were unable to generate and sustain a run. While they were able to chip at the lead, ultimately the Pistons were too much to handle winning 71-52. Snyder finished with 22 while Blomdahl chipped in 21. Captain Dave Markman also had a solid start to his night with 19 points but he would be heard from again later on.
In the second game of the night, a depleted T'Wolve squad of 5 players faced a depleted Pacer squad of 5 players. From the start, it was obvious the Pacers had the advantage. Running down court, and hitting numerous layups the Pacers jumped out to an early lead and never let go. Matt Troum had 18 in the first half and Sean Dwyer had 16 to help build a 52-26 lead. The second half wasn't much better with the Pacers on pace to score 100 points. They stretched the lead close to 40 before the T'Wolves even knew what hit them. Still, the T'Wolves did play a solid 2nd half led by Captain Joe Salvia who had a career high 25 points. His play was not enough to even make the game close as the Pacers won 87-70 in the highest scoring game of the season. Troum finished with a game high 32 while Dwyer added 26.
The next game was the game of the night, with the Nuggets facing the Kings. In a back and forth game, the Kings controlled much of the tempo early on. Jack McNally was the hot hand scoring 13 in the opening 20 minutes. Other than Jack, no one on either team could get the offense going in the first half. In the second half, both teams came to life. Captain Colin Haviland of the Kings and Captain Jaison Udani of the Nuggets started hitting shots to spark their respective teams. Along with both of the aforementioned captains, Jim Dugan and Ed Paone came up big for both teams. Dugan scored 10 points in a 4 minute stretch while Paone rebounded from a poor first half. With the Kings leading by only 3, John Streckenbein hit a huge 3 pointer to stretch the lead to 6. While it looked to be the dagger, the Nuggets came back. Bill Krzyk hit a huge 3 to cut the lead to 1 with only seconds remaining. After a Joe Alliano steal, Sean Fenton of the Nuggets was fouled and sent to the free throw line with 6 seconds remaining. One of the best free throw shooters in the league, Fenton suprisingly missed both shots but this time a curse hit the Kings instead of the Nuggets. Dan Jones grabbed the rebound but turned the ball over immediately to Bill Krzyk who hit a game winning layup with only seconds remaining to pull out a shocking 63-62 win. Paone finished with a game high 25 while Udani had 17. The Kings were led in scoring by Jac Mac with 15 and Haviland with 12.
The last game of the night saw the Pistons return to face the Pacers. Both teams had won their games earlier in the day, and this game looked to equal the intensity of the Nugget-King matchup. It was the Pacers who were out to send a message early to the top team in the league. Matt Troum came out of the gate hot scoring 14 in the first 10 minutes. He drove the lane and hit threes to confuse the Pistons. But after the first 10 minutes, the Pistons made their trademark run. Dave Markman caught fire and scored 15 first half points. By halftime, the Pistons had grabbed a 32-26 lead. They knew the end was near. Right after the second half started, they put down the Pacers. Markman went crazy scoring 19 more in the second session en route to a season and career high of 34 points. They managed to maintain a double-digit lead throughout the second half with their lead shrinking to only 7 about 13 minutes in. Still they would not be denied the victory as the 3 headed monster of Markman, Snyder, and Blomdahl combined for 61 points in a 66-57 win. As for the Pacers, Troum had 27 points and Mike Ziegler added 10.
So with the season half way done, the Pistons remain the only unbeaten, and look to pull out the first perfect season in CAL history. Check out games next week to see if they can do it.
**Regular Game Times are back in effect
Tuesday, July 20
6:30 T'Wolves vs Nuggets
7:30 Pistons vs Pacers
8:30 Kings vs Sixers
Thursday, July 22
6:30 T'Wolves vs Kings
7:30 Pistons vs Nuggets
8:30 Sixers vs Pacers
.jpg)