GREENSBORO, N.C. — Jaylen Sims pulled up over Stockton Kings guard Jon Elmore with four seconds on the shot clock, drained a three-pointer and gave the Greensboro Swarm a lead late in the fourth quarter they would not relinquish.
That shot, with the Swarm clinging to a one-point lead and a minute remaining, pushed Greensboro ahead 109-105 and carried them to a 111-107 win over the defending champion Stockton Kings in Game 1 of the NBA G League Finals on Wednesday at Novant Health Fieldhouse.
The Swarm are one win away from the first championship in franchise history.
The win was anything but clean. Greensboro shot 38 percent from the field and trailed by seven with six and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, the worst shooting performance and largest deficit of their playoff run.
Coming into the game, Greensboro had trailed for only 42 total seconds in the playoffs. Winning this game would require resiliency they hadn’t had to apply all playoff run.
Stockton Kings guard DaQuan Jeffries, an All-NBA G League First Team selection and former Charlotte Hornet, led all scorers with 25 points on six three-pointers.
Two veteran guards led the way for the Swarm. Marcus Garrett finished with a team-high 21 points and Terrell Brown Jr. led the bench with 18.
The game had been tight throughout, with the Swarm holding a 38-37 lead after a high-scoring first quarter before both teams traded runs heading into the fourth.
The Kings nearly pulled it off. Stockton guard Dexter Dennis went on a solo 10-0 run to open the fourth quarter, erasing a six-point Greensboro lead and putting the Kings up two before the Swarm called timeout.
“We have got to sit down and guard,” Swarm head coach DJ Bakker told his team out of that timeout. “[Stockton] has got a lot of guys that can get downhill and score. They’ve got a lot of three-point shooting. So it’s not an easy task, but it’s what’s required.”
It was Brown Jr. off the bench who sparked the comeback. Brown Jr. stripped Kings forward Jaylin Williams for a breakaway layup, then scored again on a four-foot jumper to cut the deficit to one.
Garrett then retook the lead on a two-point shot with two and a half minutes remaining, setting up the Sims shot.
“That’s somebody that works hard,” said Garrett of Sims. “I know he was ready for that moment and I’m glad he was able to knock it down.”
Sims, the Swarm’s all-time leading scorer, added two free throws to seal the win after the Kings cut the deficit to two on a layup by Kings forward Patrick Baldwin Jr.
“[Stockton] is a really good team, they’re going to go on runs,” said Bakker. “But what I was really proud of was that [Stockton] only scored four points in the last four and a half minutes. That’s the attention to detail that we have to have.”
The biggest edge on the stat sheet was on the glass. Greensboro out-rebounded Stockton 65-46, with 26 offensive rebounds to the Kings’ 11. Three Swarm players grabbed 10 or more rebounds, with center Jonas Aidoo leading the way with 14.
NBA assignments Liam McNeeley and Tidjane Salaun added 13 and 10 respectively, with Aidoo, Sims and forward Josiah Allick each hauling in five or more offensive boards.
The rebounding effort has been critical with two-way center PJ Hall, an All-NBA G League Third Team selection, out for the season with an ankle fracture suffered in the first round.
“Just crashing the glass,” McNeeley said. “PJ Hall is out and that was a big blow for our rebounding, but Jonas and Josiah are really stepping up.”
For a Greensboro franchise that made its first playoff appearance just a season ago, Game 2 represents a chance at something the organization has never had.
“It feels pretty cool, definitely a lot of fun,” McNeeley said. “First year and getting to play in the finals. Even though it’s the G League you’re still playing for a championship, and that means something, especially in this organization.”
The Greensboro Swarm have a chance to clinch their first G League title Friday when Game 2 tips off in Stockton, Calif. at Adventist Health Arena at 10 p.m. EST on ESPNU.
