Stars survive thriller vs Sioux Falls

It wasn’t pretty at times but the Salt Lake City Stars did just enough to escape with a close win over the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

(Jairus Lyles, photo by Paul Asay via Salt Lake City Stars Instagram)

The Stars victory helped to avenge an earlier 136-122 loss the Skyforce although the two games were far different. In the first match-up between the two teams, the Stars fell behind early and struggled to stay in the game before a short burst in the final minutes narrowed Sioux Falls’ margin of victory. In the second match-up, it was the Stars that got out to an early advantage, leading by as many as 10 points in the game, before a Skyforce comeback led to a nail biting finish.

With the game tied and with 24 seconds remaining, Stars’ head coach Martin Schiller looked to Trey Lewis to deliver the victory for Salt Lake. Despite having missed his previous two attempts from deep, Coach Schiller said he had the utmost faith in Lewis and was confident the first year player could knock down the shot. He did. Lewis’ three-ball gave the Stars the lead for good as Salt Lake escaped with a much-earned victory.

Lewis finished the game with an NBA G League career-high 21 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists off the bench for the Stars. Lewis wasn’t the only bench player to have a big game for the Stars as Shonn Miller finished the game with 15 points and a team-high 11 boards to tally his second double-double of the year. In all, the Stars’ benched scored 56 points, a season-high.

With Jazz two-way player Naz Mitrou-Long with Utah in Cleveland for their match-up with the Cavaliers, it was on fellow two-way player Tyler Cavanaugh to step up and lead the Stars, and he did just that. Cavanaugh finished with a team-high 23 points and nine boards as the former Atlanta Hawk made key plays down the stretch to fend off the Skyforce.

While the taste of victory was sweet for members of the Stars, the victory came with consequences as Tony Bradley, on assignment from the Utah Jazz, was forced to leave the game late in the first quarter after suffering an injury to his right knee, the same knee that has caused him to miss time earlier this season. While Bradley does not believe the injury to be serious he sat out the remainder of the game and will receive an MRI in the coming days. Bradley had been off to an impressive night, grabbing nine rebounds in eight minutes before suffering the injury.

The Stars will look to build on the impressive win as they take on the OKC Blue on Thursday, Jan. 10 at home.