2010-11 NBA G League Finals

Result

Game 2 of this series drew a D-League-record 14,036 fans at Casey's Center in Des Moines. Iowa outscored Rio Grande Valley 38-23 in the fourth quarter of the decisive Game 3.

Games

Finals context

The 2010-11 Finals were a rematch of sorts for Rio Grande Valley, which returned to the championship round for a second consecutive season after winning the 2009-10 title, this time facing the Iowa Energy. The series proved to be one of the most competitive and closely watched Finals of the D-League's first decade, going the full three games and producing a genuine attendance milestone along the way: Game 2, played at what was then called Wells Fargo Arena (now Casey's Center) in Des Moines, drew a D-League-record crowd of 14,036 fans, surpassing the mark the Energy franchise had itself previously set during its inaugural home game back in 2007 -- a sign of how far local enthusiasm for D-League basketball had grown in receptive Midwestern markets even as several Southeastern charter franchises from the league's early years had already folded for lack of exactly that kind of support. Individually, the series belonged largely to Iowa's Curtis Stinson, the reigning regular-season MVP (having averaged 19.3 points, 9.8 assists, and 5.7 rebounds across the year), who produced back-to-back triple-doubles in Games 1 and 2, highlighted by a 29-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist line in the opener with five other Iowa teammates also reaching double figures. Rio Grande Valley actually won Game 2 in a shootout, 141-122, evening the series and setting up a decisive Game 3 back in Iowa. Stinson was hampered by an injury in that finale and saw his availability limited, but Iowa's supporting cast carried the load: guard Stefhon Hannah scored 31 points, with five additional Energy players in double figures, as Iowa erased a seven-point deficit entering the fourth quarter by outscoring Rio Grande Valley 38-23 down the stretch to seal a 2-1 series win and the franchise's first D-League championship. No Finals MVP award existed yet at this point in league history, so no individual honor was formally attached to either Stinson's triple-double heroics in Games 1 and 2 or Hannah's decisive Game 3 scoring, even though both would likely have been strong candidates under the award structure introduced a few seasons later. For Rio Grande Valley, the runner-up finish snapped what had been a perfect start to Vipers Finals history and served as an early reminder that even the league's most successful modern franchise would not simply steamroll every opponent; the Vipers would not return to the championship round again until 2012-13, when they broke through for a second title, this time completing their postseason run undefeated.

Sources

• Wikipedia — Iowa Energy
• Wikipedia — List of NBA G League champions