Stars' comeback bid falls short vs Stockton

The Stars were shorthanded in their matchup with the Stockton Kings (Sacramento Kings affiliate) and it showed for the first half of play, falling behind 16-0 early in the game. The Stars were without several key players, including Willie Reed, who hurt his shoulder and is out for the season, Tony Bradly, who is out for a month following knee surgery and Naz Mitrou long and Tyler Cavanaugh who were both called up to play for the Jazz.

With the absence of Bradley, Cavanaugh and Reed, it was Isaac Haas who had the opportunity to start. The rookie center out of Purdue put up 7 points in his first start of the season in limited minutes after Stockton played small ball for the majority of the game. “I just tried to prepare myself mentally and physically and I felt fine conditioning-wise. It was just a rough game, they were spreading us out, going small. No matter which way you paint it that’s always tough for a big guy,” Haas said following the game.

Things looked bad with a capital B for 3 quarters as the Stars couldn't get within 15 points of the Stockton Kings for the majority of the game. However, the Stars made a furious comeback in the final quarter, tying the game with under two minutes to play. Shonn Miller played a critical role in the comeback as the forward notched his first 20/10 game of the season with 10 boards and a new G-League career-high 23 points.

“I was just taking what they were giving me, having confidence in my shot, driving when I could and my teammates did a good job finding me,” Miller said. First quarter we came out flat and they were hitting everything and that just got us off to a bad start.”

Miller was not the only player in the game to come away with a new career-high as the Kings were led by Cameron Reynolds, who scored an NBA G League career-high 36 points (23 in the first half) and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench, while Sacramento Kings two-way player Troy Williams recorded a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 15 boards.

“We didn’t know that they would be undermanned as well,” Stars coach Martin Schiller said postgame. “We did not anticipate a small game like this where everything is going to be switched. Originally the plan was to zone quite … but we kind of threw that plan out of the window in the second quarter because everything was so small.”

“The main thing is they scored 19 [in the fourth quarter. We guarded pretty aggressively, picked up full court, forced 19 turnovers and I think we scored quite a bit off [their turnovers].”

Ultimately the Stars’ comeback bid came up short as the Kings went on a 6-0 run in the final minute to come away with the 117-113 victory.