The Santa Cruz Warriors are heading back to the NBA D-League playoffs.
And they could be the most dangerous team in the dance.
Jabari Brown scored a game-high 31 points off the pine, Golden State Warriors assignee Damian Jones added 20 points and six rebounds and Santa Cruz clinched the fourth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with a 128-123 win over the Salt Lake City Stars on Monday. It will be the Warriors’ (30-19) fourth playoff appearance during its five years in Santa Cruz.
Alex Hamilton gave the Warriors the lead for good on a layup with 6:22 left to play but the game was far from over.
Salt Lake City (14-34) hung around until the final whistle and made it a one-possession game with 7.0 remaining but Santa Cruz made its free throws down the stretch to clinch the playoff berth and notch its fifth straight victory.
James Southerland recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, Hamilton added 15 points and seven assists and Phil Pressey chimed in with 11 points, six assists and five rebounds.
A return to the playoffs looked to be in jeopardy after the Warriors blew a 25-point lead against the Reno Bighorns at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Feb. 24 but Santa Cruz has since been arguably the best team in the D-League, winning 11 of their last 13 games.
Santa Cruz finishes off its regular season on Friday at home against the NBA D-League Pacific Division champion Los Angeles D-Fenders at 7 p.m.
The Warriors are not out of the race for the No. 3 seed in the playoffs, trailing Rio Grand Valley by only 1/2 a game. Clinching the No. 3 seed could give Santa Cruz home-court advantage in a playoff series down the road.
Santa Cruz opened up the game by taking a seven-point advantage and led 33-29 at the end of the first quarter.
The Warriors opened the second quarter on a 10-4 to lead by as many as 12 points in the frame. Santa Cruz would outscore the Stars by five points in the before the half to hold a 68-59 lead at the intermission.
Salt Lake City came out of the break with high-energy play, outscoring the Warriors 20-9 to take back the lead with 5:58 remaining in the period. The Stars would lead by as many as eight points, shooting 65.2 percent from the field and 60 percent from 3-point land, en route to outscoring the Warriors 38-26 in the frame to lead by three heading into the final stanza.
The lead changed hands six times and was tied twice, with neither team leading by more than two possessions. Hamilton’s bucket midway through the frame gave the Warriors an advantage they would not relinquish.
Quincy Ford paced the Stars with 25 points and five rebounds. Brice Johnson came off the bench to contribute 18 points, while JJ O’Brien and Henry Sims added 15 points apiece. Jermaine Taylor and Tyrone Wallace both scored 12 points.
