Second Round Bound: RGV Vipers hold off Spurs to advance in playoffs

EDINBURG — The Rio Grande Valley Vipers held off a second-half surge by the Austin Spurs on Tuesday as they took the first round playoff win, 117-106, here at the Bert Ogden Arena.

The clash, which was the Western Conference Quaterfinals of the NBA G League Playoffs, was a game of two halves as each told a different story.

Daishen Nix, as he's been providing for the RGV Vipers, led the offensive fray with 34 points — along with 8 rebounds and 7 assists.

However, for the Austin Spurs, Kyle Mangas swaggered his way to 45 points as he was catching a groove throughout the game.

The First Half

The Vipers started off to a strong start as Olisa Blaise Akonobi and Cameron Matthews showed their presence early with some points in the paint. 

The home squad built a 15-9 lead that led to the Spurs' first timeout after a couple of threes from Tristen Newton and Nix. Defensively, the Vipers looked sound.

Vipers had a bit of a spurt after some lineup changes. However, Elfrid Payton — who was the 10th overall pick in the 2014 draft — had a drive to the basket for the Spurs. Then, the following play an alley oop gave some life to the away team.

With eight seconds left, a putback by Newton and a block by Matthews to hold off a Spurs' last-second shot put it at 36-20 at the end of the first. Stevie Mitchell came off the bench to be a spark plug and hit two straight threes for the Vipers.

In the second quarter, the Spurs applied way more tenacious defense on Newton as he was hounded every trip down court by Adam Flagler. The Vipers earned themselves the biggest lead of 21 points with drives by not only Newton, but Nix as well.

The Vipers though built the lead to 25 after getting a dime and John Knight III hit a three from the right wing.

The Spurs did bring it to 16 with back-to-back-to-back threes from Harrison Ingram, Mangus and Flagler, in that order. 

It was 68-49 at the half.

The Second Half

Spurs came with a bit of fire behind them as they turned up a bit — even though both teams had a rocky start. Mangus hit some shots and the Vipers did get bailed out off certain sequences from the perimeter barrage that Austin was trying to start up.

After a tip-in by James Banks III, the Spurs brought it within 12. However, Caleb McConnell drove in the paint, composed himself and hit a turnaway jumper in the paint for the bucket. 82-68.

Mangus hit a three from the wing to bring it to 11 before Mitchell hit a floater that hit the backboard to bring it to 13. Knight III and McConnell had back-to-back layups to bring it up to 17.

At the end of three, it was 90-78.

After a three at the top of the key by Newton, Mangus hit three straight buckets for 7 points to bring the Spurs closer. After about six minutes in the fourth, the Spurs did bring it within 9 but a three by Knight III brought it to 102-90.

Flagler was a spark plug for the spurs after he cashed in a three that hit nothing but net. After a Mangus free throw, it was 102-97.

A jam by Cameron Matthew’s rocked the house to bring it to 113-104 with 1:06. With some missed shots by the Spurs, the Vipers were able to hang onto the lead.

Head Coach Joseph Blair said despite the comeback by the Spurs, a win was a win.

"We just had issues with them for sure," Blair said. "Kudos to them and Austin, they played one heck of a season. You know, we look back at our record against them, they've always given us battles."

The Vipers during the regular season were 1-3 against the Spurs.

"They were going to fight rught until the end, so we had to do the same," he said. "I'm proud of my team for holding it together."

Nix said that it was a great effort by him and his team, but he said he was proud of his squad not letting up. 

Ahead of the second round game, which is between the winner between the South Bay Lakers and San Diego Clippers, the Viper said that a better close out of the team is needed.

"I know it's going to be a tough game," he said. "I think just playing through all four quarters — because we let up, we let the gas up a little bit in the third, kind of in the fourth — but (we have to keep) playing through all four quarters like we usually do."

They will have an away playoff game against the South Bay Lakers on Friday.