Blue Coats Hit the Road for Second Round Matchup with Motor City
Brianna Mac Kay /April 8, 2022
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NBA G League Kia Defensive Player of the Year leads the Blue Coats into Motor City to take on the Cruise in the second round of the playoffs Friday night | Photo credit: Joey Nicolo[/caption]
The Delaware Blue Coats are hitting the road for their second round matchup in the 2022 NBA G League Playoffs.
The third-seeded Coats will take the court against the second-seeded Motor City Cruise in another win-or-go-home game on Friday, just three days after eliminating the Long Island Nets with a 133-117 first round win. This will be the Cruise’s first postseason contest after earning an opening night bye.
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Motor City and Delaware recently faced off in a two-game series in Wilmington toward the end of the regular season, with each team claiming a win. Both matchups were highly competitive.
The Blue Coats will continue to stress their defensive prowess as the playoffs continues, a point that Shaquille Harrison, who was named 2021-22 Kia NBA G League Defensive Player of the Year earlier today, stressed before the conclusion of the regular season.
“Defend. Defend, defend, defend,” Harrison said to The Whit, Rowan University's student newspaper. “From the team we had earlier in the year to the team we have now, it’s a little bit different and I think we have a little bit more talented scorers on our end, but still, our main focus is to defend.”
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Through the regular season, the Blue Coats led the league in steals per game (11.8) and blocks per game (7.1), a testament to their commitment to defense.
Look for high levels of defensive intensity in this conference semifinals game, as Delaware looks to upset the Cruise on their home court.
Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. tonight and can be watched on ESPNU and listened to on Rowan Radio 89.7 WGLS FM.
Brianna Mac Kay is a student at Rowan University and contributor for the Delaware Blue Coats. For more of her work, visit TheWhitOnline.com.
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