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- Another Firebirds Win Yesterday
Happy Firebirds Friday! I’m happy to announce that the Firebirds defeated the Buccaneers last night on the road. Today, I’ll recap the game and talk a little bit about the standings for our division headed into All-Star break. Let’s jump right in!
Table of Contents
Firebirds Destroy Buccaneers, 139-96 🏀
The Firebirds had a field day in Savannah, ultimately defeating the Buccaneers by 43 points. We only took eight players to Georgia, but it didn’t matter; our guard-heavy lineup played spectacularly. The game was close through the first half, with the Firebirds only leading by five at the end of the first quarter. At halftime, the lead was 12, which was comfortable but not too comfortable. A comeback was more than possible; however, the Firebirds stepped on the gas coming out of halftime. They outscored the Buccaneers by 16 points in the third quarter and 39 in the fourth quarter.
Dreko Palmer shined in this one for the Firebirds. He played every minute of the game and dropped 30 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals on great shooting efficiency. Without Julian Gamble playing, Palmer stepped up as the leader for the Firebirds on the court.
Other notable stat lines:
DJ Thomas: 22 points, 6 rebounds, 56% shooting from the field
Jeremiah Pope: 23 points, 10 rebounds
Kenny Collins: 18 points, 5 rebounds, 50% shooting from the field
Where We Stand 🪜
This upcoming weekend is The Basketball League’s All-Star Weekend, and we won’t play again until Saturday, April 26th. The picture above is a snapshot of our current divisional standings. Note: our game yesterday against Savannah hasn’t yet been updated, so we are 10-3 while the Buccaneers are 3-7.
As you can see, we’re neck and neck with the Tampa Bay Titans for first in the Division. They have a better winning percentage than we do, but we’ve played and won a few more games than they have. Our season series with them is 2-2, so it’ll be a real battle to see who gets that top divisional spot.
Outside of our division, the rest of the East Coast has some powerhouse teams. In the Mid-Atlantic Division, the Frederick Flying Cows sit at an impressive 13-0, with the Capital Seahawks trailing them with a 10-4 record. In the North Atlantic division, our old foe, the Albany Patroons, have racked up an 11-1 record. Not too far behind them are the New York Phoenix, a new TBL team that’s put together an impressive 10-1 record so far.
In the playoffs, we’ll likely face one of the four teams that I listed above (Patroons, Phoenix, Cows, Seahawks). If we get past them and once again win the Eastern Conference, then we’ll likely face the St. Louis Griffins or Potawatomi Fire. Those two teams have established themselves as some of the TBL’s best, with us narrowly losing to the Griffins in last year’s playoffs, and Potawatomi as the reigning league champions.
Needless to say, once we get past the All-Star break and into the second half of the season, it’ll be interesting to keep monitoring these standings. It’ll be even more interesting to see who we play come playoff time. Stay tuned!
Make sure to stay tuned for Monday’s edition!
Until then,
-Tex