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BIG3 Playoff Preview: Can anyone stop Trilogy?
Rashad McCants and Al Harrington of Trilogy look to be unstoppable, finishing the regular season undefeated.  Streeter Lecka/BIG3/Getty Images

BIG3 Playoff Preview: Can anyone stop Trilogy?

2017 continued to its commitment to LaVar Ball’s moment as he was invited to Los Angeles by the BIG3 to participate in a 4-point challenge with Ice Cube. Throw that sentence in a time capsule and open it up a century from now and see if it still makes sense. Ice Cube won, of course, making one more 4-point shot than Ball – it was a good day. Well, at least it was for Cube. Not so much for 3’s Company, though. They gave the Ball Hogs their second win of the season and missed out on an opportunity to become the 3-seed in the playoffs and ended up not making it at all.

At the end of the day, Trilogy finished the season undefeated, the Ghost Ballers snuck into the post season by upsetting the 3-Headed Monsters and Power wrapped up the No. 3 seed despite a loss to Tri-State.

With the regular season over, let’s take a look at some of the individual leaders.

Points: Rashard Lewis (170)
Rebounds: Reggie Evans (87)
Assists: Mike Bibby (30)
Steals: Bonzi Wells (7)
Blocks: Dermarr Johnson, Rasual Butler (7)
4-Point Makes: Mike Bibby (6)
3-Point Makes: DeShawn Stevenson (32)

Rashard Lewis cemented his scoring title with his 16th point early in the 2nd half, but did he hand the over the MVP with the 3-Headed Monsters’ second loss. Maybe it was never his to hand over to begin with as Rashad McCants has been the best player on the best team all season. McCants is fourth in scoring while leading all players in plus-minus (two of his teammates are 2nd and 3rd here) and in NET rating. While he may not lead in any traditional statistical category, he is leaving a bigger impact while on the floor than any other player in the BIG3, and this is a huge reason why Trilogy went undefeated.

The question that remains now is whether McCants will continue to have that kind of impact in the playoffs when the stakes are higher. It’s hard to imagine a dramatic shift in what McCants has done for his squad, but in a winner-goes-home tournament, anything can happen.


Mike Bibby of Ghost Ballers guards Rashard Lewis of the 3-Headed Monsters during the BIG3 game at Staples Center on August 13, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Stopping Lewis is going to be vital for the Power this weekend.  Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

3-Headed Monsters (2) v. Power (3)

Power was 2-0 before their Week 3 matchup with the 3-Headed Monsters, and they were blitzed right out of the gate by Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf who dropped 22 points on 14 shots on the night. Rashard Lewis poured in 20 points with six boards. What really stood out in this 50-32 blowout was how well the 3-Headed Monsters moved the ball. They had 10 team assists, one of only two times on the season in which they eclipsed double figures on the season in that category. It helped that Abdul-Rauf lit it up from beyond the arc, but their ability to find the open guy was a huge reason the score was never close again after Power took a 15-14 lead.

While we can’t expect Abdul-Rauf to go off for 22 in Seattle, we can expect Power to continue to struggle with the 3-Headed Monsters’ size. 3HM outscored Power 16-8 in the paint, largely due to Kwame Brown and Lewis’ presence around the rim in the game. Lewis recorded two blocks and Brown, who didn’t show much significance in the box score, altered a number of other shots and forced a few kick outs from driving Power players unwilling to test him at the rim.

If Power is to be successful, they’re going to have to move with and without the ball. Jerome Williams is going to have to be huge on the boards (he had nine in their first meeting) and someone is going to have to stop Lewis. Deshawn Stevenson and Cuttino Mobley are going to find a way to put some points on the board, (combined for 30 of the team’s 32 points), but they’re going to need some help. Since the game, Power has acquired Rasual Butler, who can get buckets, but it still feels like might not be enough.

Prediction: 3-Headed Monsters advance with a 50-43 win.


Does Joe Smith's squad have a ghost of a chance against the Trilogy? Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

Trilogy (1) v. Ghost Ballers (4)

Mike Bibby shot .700 from the field with 17 points and five rebounds and finished with a -16 +/- in the Ghost Ballers first meeting with Trilogy. Al Harrington (17), Rashad McCants (15) and James White (12) all finished in double figures in a game where Trilogy outscored, outrebounded, out assisted and finished with fewer turnovers than Ghost Ballers. It was a complete, thorough butt kicking with just an okay game from their best player.

Kenyon Martin is back, McCants can only be better and the Harrington/White core pose matchup problems against the Ricky Davis, Bibby, Ivan Johnson trio. Bibby won’t shoot 70 percent again, and it’s hard to imagine Davis and Johnson combining for more than the 19 they scraped together in the first meeting. A loss feels futile for Ghost Ballers, and a win would easily be the biggest upset of the season.

But that’s why they play the games. Trilogy continues to look unbeatable, and the game feels like a mere formality, but everyone has an off night, and it’s not rare for guys to play above their normal production in hoops. But it all seems unlikely.

Prediction: Trilogy in another blowout. 50-39.

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