As much as this series was an easy “upset” pick, with many believing Montréal was punching well above their weight in the #3 seed, the Magma actually swept the season series against Miami, though their largest win was by just 10 points. They would certainly not earn the sweep in the postseason, as they stumbled out of the gate, allowing the Palms to jump to an early 15-point lead from which they’d never look back. The Magma would get back on the right footing in Game 2, however, as B/K Alex Rennie would springboard an offensive attack, laying down 48 points assisted to set the tone and earn a split as the series headed to Sunrise.

Game 3 would be the first really tight game of the series. After Game 1 had no lead changes whatsoever and Game 2 had a measly three, the first Miami home game had 21, as the teams battled for the ever-important 2-1 lead. Midway through the eighth and final inning, Palms B/ZB Gerald Hartline read a B/ZB Jaime Makey pass perfectly, picking it off. After a quick give-and-go with W/K Seth Dew to advance up the floor, Hartline called his own number, hitting a 5-point bucket to put the Palms up four, a lead they would hold onto and eventually extend to eight as the clock expired. Montréal looked to respond in Game 4, and got off to a strong start, leading by as many as 13 in the fifth inning, but a 16-4 run in the sixth gave the Palms momentum - and the lead - and put the Magma on their back foot. They would recover for a few minutes, but Miami locked down on defense and ultimately put the game out of reach late in the eighth inning, taking a 3-1 lead.

Game 5 would be another tight one, as the lead once again kept ping-ponging back and forth as one team went on a run and then the other turned around and matched it. The last one would belong to the home team, as the Magma would turn a 3-point deficit into an 8-point lead over the last 3 minutes with some extremely clutch shooting by little-known F/ZB Nick Goldring and timely defense from star B/K Travis Hauser to keep their season alive. They’d still have to take Game 6 back in Sunrise, though, and would make it a lot harder on themselves by turning the ball over on their first three possessions, including two forced by B/ZB Kyle Barb, letting Miami jump out to a 9-0 lead. Defense would rule the day on both sides, but ultimately, it would be the Palms’ who would earn the advantage, forcing 18 more turnovers throughout the day and letting the offense coast to a 113-90 series-clinching win.



For a team making its first playoff appearance, and as the #1 seed no less, the Statesmen ended up with perhaps the worst draw you could possibly get, having to face off against the Texas Redbacks. Sure enough, those fears of an upset started to crystalize after a Game 1 in which the Texas defense completely shut down DC’s NDL-best offense, holding them to just 101 points. W/K Alex Lampert and B/K Rick Delaney were particularly effective every time DC tried to get the ball in the two-point region, playing aggressively and almost playing as second centers at times, forcing DC to play outside, limiting their effectiveness. The Scarlet and Plum would have to adjust in Game 2, and head coach Dane Gaddy came up with a game plan that worked to perfection. The Statesmen played with a higher focus on outside screening to set up open jump shots and end zone passes, but also sent feints running through the two-point zone to keep Texas’s frontmen on their toes, leading to the occasional open look inside. 24-year-old B/K Paul Gartside led the way in points, unusually for a back, with 32, and 6 of his teammates scored in double digits. That, combined with a stellar defensive performance of their own, let DC pick up a dominant 45-point home win to tie the series at one apiece.

Texas head coach Josh Hunter would let his team counter in Game 3 with heavy switching on defense, and his team picked up the slack for him to even things back out. Texas had one of their best offensive games of the season, led by Lampert and W/ZB Larry Whitt both scoring over 25. They would stay undefeated on the season when scoring 140 or more, winning by a commanding 22 points. Game 4 would see a close game for the first half, but Texas would kick it into that second gear they always seemed to have, and would outscore DC by 15 in the third quarter on their way to a 19-point win to take a commanding 3-1 lead. With their backs against the wall but a Game 5 at home, the Statesmen would have their best game of the season, bar none. It didn’t help that Redbacks F/ZB Fabiano Cordova tore his Achilles, but a game that ended 173-85 was not going to be helped by the presence of one player. Texas looked completely lost all game, while even DC’s backups were practically running laps around their opponents.

As great of a game it was for the Statesmen, though, they still had a long way to go, and Game 6 back in Dallas didn’t start off great. Josh Hunter had made more adjustments to better fit replacement F/ZB Evan Leroy into the game, and Texas turned the first quarter into a statement, going up 18 after a 15-point inning from F/ZB Jose Gutierrez. DC wouldn’t let that get them down, however, and slowly but surely, started chipping away. Gartside continued to shoot well from deep, B/ZB Ethan Keller was an assist wizard, dishing for 41 points assisted on the game, and F/ZB Ziad Abdel was a dominant receiving option in the end zone, with 21 of his 28 points coming in the blue paint. The lead came down to 11 at halftime and was within just 2 as the seventh inning commenced, and the Statesmen would take their first lead since 6-5 on the first possession with a 3-point W/ZB Michael Cochran curveball that beat Delaney clean. Texas would finally get it together and prevent the game from getting too out of hand for the next 15 minutes, but 25-year-old W/ZB Nkem Carter would provide the dagger with a crowd-silencing 3-point bucket to stretch the lead to 8 with just 39 seconds to go. As it happened, that would be the final score of the game, pushing it to a Game 7 in the nation’s capital. DC clearly had their confidence back, as the Statesmen faithful were treated to a game in which their team held the lead for the entire second half. The Redbacks had provided quite the scare, but ultimately, they’d blown their second 3-1 lead in as many years, while the Statesmen continued their improbable run.



The other 2029 expansion team was in a sticky situation, having underperformed for much of the year and only making the playoffs by suddenly becoming the hottest team alive. They were hungry to keep their own run going and get revenge on the Sea Lions for last year’s Finals defeat, but in Game 1, they could not pull it together. With the California crowd behind them, the Sea Lions jumped out to an early 17-4 lead off of some uncharacteristic turnovers from W/K Richard Singh. The Lights would go on a mini 8-3 run to pull it back to single digits, but after a 5-point toss from B/ZB Dave Sanderson to F/ZB Michael Basch early in the second inning, the lead would never again go as low as 10 for the remainder of the game, as Cali cruised to a big win.

Game 2 would start much better for the visitors, as F/ZB Kevin Simmons put on a masterclass in the second inning with 18 points in the eight minutes, hitting all three of his shots from beyond the 5-point arc. Unfortunately, that was about as good as their offense would be, as once the Sea Lions made the adjustment in the fourth, things locked down, and Basch’s squad outscored Simmons’ in each of the three remaining innings they matched up. That would include the eighth and final inning, which the Lights started with a 6-point lead, and even extended to 8 on a kick by W/ZB Isiah DeJesus. As they had all night, though, California would start chipping away, and with just under two minutes to play, a W/ZB Jhaton Williams basket would tie the game up. With the building buzzing, the defenses stepped up, as the next four possessions would end without a score, but off a steal by Lights W/K Johnny Burkhart, Kevin Simmons would flash behind the defense. Burkhart hit Simmons in stride, and rather than stop, Simmons would throw the ball off the backboard and leap from just inside the 3-point line, throwing down a huge slam that took all the wind out of the crowd. With 13 seconds left, there was still time for California, though, and out of the timeout, they were able to advance the ball past the Minnesota trap. The ball would wind up in the hands of B/C Christian Dalton just inside the 5-point arc, defended by B/ZB John Brother. Brother was denying Dalton a shot at either the basket or the goal, but he didn’t see W/ZB Matt Powers streaking down the sideline. Powers, who had had a quiet game with just 12 points so far, met Dalton’s pass short of the end zone, but rather than collect and chuck up an awkward shot attempt, he decided to tip the ball over the goal line, past the converging B/ZB Dewitt Golf, and after nearly colliding with Golf, came down with the ball for a game-winning 3 points.

The play, and the come-from-behind win, seemed to energize the Sea Lions, and Powers in particular, who came to play on the road in Game 3. It took a bit longer than it did in the opener, but once again, California was able to build a double digit lead, going up 48-37 late in the third inning, and despite all of Minnesota’s efforts in a must-win game, they just couldn’t stop Matt Powers, who seemed to find one twine or another with every shot he took. Powers finished with 44 points as the Lions took control of the series, going up 3-0. The Lights finally got something going in Game 4, as their defense stepped up bigtime and held the Sea Lions to just 99 points, as they avoided the sweep.

Their next stop would be back in San José for Game 5, where many expected the Sea Lions to finish things off on their home court. It looked for a bit like they would, as they built up a first-half lead once again, but the Lights finally showed some fight and were able to battle back to within 4 by the halftime buzzer. That momentum would prove very important, as Richard Singh (who was having an uncharacteristically quiet series) finally looked like himself again, as he posted 11 points in the fifth inning, and Kevin Simmons responded the next inning by outdoing his teammate with 13. Minnesota stretched their lead to as many as 15 in the final quarter and would go on to win by 11, once again keeping their season alive. They followed that up by going home to St. Paul and bombshelling the Sea Lions with a 140-103 drubbing in which Simmons went off for 49. The Lights had done the unthinkable and had come all the way back to force a seventh game, the first team in NDL history to do that after falling behind 3-0.

For the first time since Game 2, the shoe was truly on the other foot. Minnesota jumped out to the early lead once again, but California fought back, taking over the lead early in the fourth inning. After a couple innings of tight, back-and-forth play, it was going to come down to which team wanted it more, and in the sixth inning, it was once again Kevin Simmons who stuck the dagger into the heart of the Bay Area with his third double-digit inning of the series, this time with 16. After that, the team’s defense locked it down, and while the Sea Lions made a valiant effort to come back, it would not be enough. With a 122-113 win, the Lights had pulled off an inconceivable comeback, earning their revenge, making history, and most importantly, moving onto the second round.



For the fourth time in seven years, these rivals would meet in the first round of the playoffs, and like last year, the bad blood between them showed quickly. Ironically, it would be a newcomer to the rivalry getting things started when New York B/C Cameron Boggs swallowed up a kick attempt by F/ZB Eddie McDonald - and then almost swallowed up McDonald himself, who had come crashing into the two-point zone. Boggs shoved McDonald off of him, and before long, players on each team had converged, although nothing serious came of it, mostly because his Fugitives teammates did a good job holding back McDonald, who looked pissed. Unfortunately for Boggs and the Chargers, McDonald decided to head to the currency exchange and trade that energy in for points. He scored 12 that inning, including one play where he dribbled the ball past Boggs, beat B/K Jim Pair cleanly, and finished it off with a shoving motion in Boggs’ general direction before getting back on defense. The rest of the Fugitives fed off the energy, and before long, they had opened up a 22-point lead, and as a result, things stayed cool for the rest of the game. The Chargers would pull a little closer by halftime, but Nashville would start the second half on a 13-2 run and finish out the game with a 31-point victory.

Game 2 would get out of hand quick for the home team, as New York went on a 34-12 run in the second and third innings, and was mostly only notable for a moment toward the end of that run where W/ZB Ha’Dori Robinson caught a touchdown pass over Eddie McDonald and threw a forceful two-handed chest pass at the defender, seemingly as a way to return his “shove” celebration from the previous game. It didn’t end up having much of an impact on the game, which the Chargers comfortably won, though Robinson did lead the way with 33 points. It’s likely that the final score impacted the next game, though. The Fugitives defense locked down the Chargers offense in the first real close game of the series. The lead would change 14 times and the two teams would get more physical, contributing to the relatively low score, but they kept it in between the lines. Ultimately, though, Nashville would space the lead out in the final minutes as New York fell apart down the stretch.

Things would tighten up even more in Game 4, and the watched pot would finally boil. Game 3’s 14 lead changes looked paltry compared to that night’s 29, and the teams responded by fighting even harder for every inch. After a game full of taking hard contact, the normally reserved B/ZB Brandon Walter snapped in the seventh inning after taking an elbow from Fugitives W/ZB Arthur Julian. The action appeared to be incidental, but Walter had clearly had enough, and we might’ve seen a replay of the shoving from the first game had Walter’s teammate, B/K Andy Lewis, not grabbed onto both of his arms to prevent that from happening. The teams would once again gather, but once again, nothing else came of the fracas, except that one team would go on a run. This time, it would be the Chargers, who turned a 4-point deficit at the time into a 10-point lead by midway through the final inning and stood firm from there to win by 11.

The series stood at 2-2 heading back to Nashville for a pivotal Game 5. After two low-scoring games that were closer than they looked, the 15-point margin in this one was far less than it was for most of the game, as the Fugitives came out swinging once again (just not literally, to the relief of the ref crew). They put New York on their back foot immediately with 8 points in their first two possessions and never trailed the rest of the way, leading by as many as 26 at one point. McDonald led the way with 37 points and W/K Will Orleans put up 39 points assisted in just three quarters before being rested in the fourth. For their part, the Chargers would do the same in their own home game two nights later, as after a close three innings to start off the game, Andy Lewis would get the Garden faithful well and truly on their feet by leading a 18-5 run that he punctuated with a buzzer-beating jump shot from the logo that hit nothing but net. New York would start halftime with an 11-point lead and survive a 9-2 Fugitives run later to pull back away and survive with a 16-point win, sending the series back to Music City for the third Game 7 of the first round.

With no team having won two consecutive games so far this series, Nashville would be looking to keep up that trend while New York would need to be the first team to buck it. The former got out to a great start, energizing the Trashville crowd by jumping out to a 17-point lead late in the third inning, but the Chargers started fighting back in the fourth, and with time winding down on the half, would once again get a momentum boost. This time, it would be a hustle play, as Ha’Dori Robinson was able to jump in front of a B/C Kevin Hur pass and knock it down, dribbling it up the court before faking a kick on net and instead booting it to F/ZB Travis Hoffarth. That cut the lead down to 9 heading into the break, and New York would keep up the run to take a 3-point lead through three quarters. The game would lock up a bit after that, with both teams being careful not to step over the line in such a close game. New York would have a 116-114 lead with 3:41 left in the game when their offense completely froze up. Their jumpers weren’t falling, their kicks were hitting the crossbar, and their passes kept sailing. They wouldn’t score again until 34 seconds left while all the Fugitives had to do was not play like, well, garbage. At the end of the day, despite how close the game was, it would end up being the seventh double-digit game of the series, as the Nashville Fugitives won the war to beat the Chargers yet again.

Last edited by ItDoesntMatter (12/22/2024 11:10 pm)

Big oof from Texas. I guess go Lights?

Welcome back!  So good to see this series continue...now let's go Lights!

In the past, it was surprising when the NDLCS did not feature the top two regular season teams. Now, in 2034, the #6 Miami Palms got to host their first Game 1 of the playoffs against the #7 Minnesota Lights. The fans turned out in droves, and were treated to a slow-moving, defensive slog. While that sounds boring - and probably was to most neutral fans - the game remained close for almost the whole 64 minutes, and for nearly the entire final inning, the game hung in the balance on every possession. There were just two points separating the two teams as the Lights, trailing, brought the ball up the court with under 20 seconds remaining. Lights B/ZB John Brother caught a pass up top, just within the 5-point line, and would look to swing a pass to W/C James Pitts on the left wing. It wouldn't reach Pitts, however, as Palms B/K Angel Camacho would jump in front of it and intercept it, landing in the 3-point area before flinging it upcourt to W/ZB Jacob Babinec. The Palms would run out the rest of the clock, earning a Game 1 victory at home.

That would've been the end of it, but pretty soon, folks noticed that something was off. A Lights fan on Twitter noticed that Camacho was, in fact, on the defensive squad, meaning that his possession of the ball outside of the defensive zone should have been called for an illegal possession. Not only that, but it seemed that Miami W/K Seth Dew noticed the error, and covertly slid into the defensive zone to even out the score. The news spread quickly, and while it didn’t make it into the locker room until most of the team, including Camacho, had left, the press did manage to ask Dew about the incident. He said he knew what Camacho had done was against the rules, but “it was gonna be against the rules regardless of what I did. I tried to do what I could to help my team win, and I figured the refs had less chance of noticing if we had six guys in the d-zone.” The NDL would eventually have to release a statement on the matter, promising to evaluate the situation in the offseason, but of course, the outcome of the game would remain a 2-point Miami win, no matter how much Minnesota fans protested.

The Lights would have a chance to make an impact on the outcome of Game 2, though, and the team would try to put the incident behind them. They would start out pretty strong, and entered halftime with a nine-point lead, on the back of 22 first-half points by W/K Richard Singh. Unfortunately for them, they had a disastrous sixth inning in which they were outscored 24-5 by the Palms, thanks in large part to B/ZB Gerald Hartline, who scored 8 of those 24 points and assisted on 13 of the remaining 16. Minnesota found themselves in a 13-point hole that they couldn’t claw back from, ultimately falling by that exact margin, 141-128.

As the series shifted back to St. Paul, the Lights knew they would have to get a win to get back in the fight, and their fans came out more raucous than ever, still pissed about Game 1. With all that going for them, you’d think they would have come out better to start Game 3. Instead, the Palms ran away with the first quarter, with F/ZB Jimmy May going for an astounding 16 points in the quarter alone, most of those assisted by Hartline. Miami would be up by 12 after just one quarter and 18 through the first half. The Lights would try to make a comeback, with Singh and F/ZB Kevin Simmons alternating offensive attacks, and they would manage to pull back within 7 late in the eighth but would still end up falling by double digits, losing by 11 and going down 3-0 in a second consecutive NDLCS. Unlike last year, though, they wouldn’t really even put up a fight in Game 4. The Palms would run away with a 20-point blowout win to earn their first ever NDL championship, doing so in convincing fashion with a sweep over the Lights.

One day it'll be the Lights' turn...one day...