Costa Mesa Condors 59-29 (0-6) |
Minnesota Muskies 73-15 (6-0) |
Score (click for boxscore) | Game MVP | Hi Points | Hi Rebounds | Hi Assists |
1. Condors 137, Muskies 123 | Cliff Levingston | 29 Kiki Vandeweghe | 14 Robert Parish | 17 Isiah Thomas |
2. Condors 139, Muskies 127 | Isiah Thomas | 30 Mychal Thompson | 23 Charles Barkley | 12 Isiah Thomas |
3. Muskies 98, Condors 96 | Danny Ainge | 28 Kiki Vandeweghe | 11 Charles Barkley | 11 Rickey Green |
4. Muskies 110, Condors 105 | Danny Ainge | 33 Danny Ainge | 15 Akeem Olajuwon | 8 Ainge/Green/Thomas |
5. Condors 144, Muskies 130 | Isiah Thomas | 38 Charles Barkley | 15 Robert Parish | 22 Isiah Thomas |
6. Condors 132, Muskies 121 | Akeem Olajuwon | 28 Purvis Short | 17 Charles Barkley | 16 Isiah Thomas |
Game 1 – For the second year in a row, the Minnesota Muskies and the Costa Mesa Condors are squaring off in the Western Conference Finals. Last year, the Condors took the series 4-2 and went on to win the VBA Championship 4-2 over the Fresno Stars. This year’s series has Minnesota with the home court advantage as they had 69 regular season wins to CMC’s 55. The first period saw a handful of ties, mini-runs and lead changes. When all was said and done, Kiki Vandeweghe, this year’s leading playoff scorer, had 12 points but his Muskies were short on the scoreboard 29-25. Minnesota came out of the huddle with 7 unanswered points to take a 3-point lead, then teams battled to a 32-32 period and Costa Mesa went into the lockers up 61-57. Kiki topped MNM with 16, The Microwave had 10 for the visitors. Once play resumed, the home team scored 8 of the 2nd half’s first 10 points to go up 65-63. Cliff Levingston went to work, scoring 11 points in the 3rd, leading his squad to a 35-34 frame, giving them a 96-91 advantage heading into the final 12 minutes. The Condors played like the VBA Champions in the 4th behind Sidney Moncrief’s 13 points, winning the period 41-32 and taking game one and home court advantage 137-123. Levingston finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots to earn Game MVP honors. Moncrief also had 26 points with 10 boards and Zeke dished out 17 dimes. Akeem Olajuwon played only 21 minutes, fouling out with 11 points and 9 rebounds. Vandeweghe led all scorers with 29. Robert Parish scored 20 and had a game-high 14 boards(10 on the offensive end). Sir Charles scored 14 points and hauled down 11 rebounds, going 6-15 from the field, but 7 of his 9 misses were from 3-point territory.
Game 2 – The Costa Mesa Condors picked up right where they left off in game one, runnin’ and gunnin’. Isiah Thomas had 13 points and Mychal Thompson 11 in a 41-33 first period that favored the visitors. Kiki Vandewehe had 11 for the Muskies. Akeem Olajuwon scored 10 in the 2nd and made sure the Condors kept the pressure on as they had a comfortable 16-point lead at halftime. The teams played a pretty even third period as the score was 113-96 heading into the 4th. Minnesota put up a fight in the final quarter, putting together a 13-4 run very late in the game to cut CMC’s lead to 8, but they succumbed 139-127. The series shifts to Costa Mesa with the Muskies needing to win both road games to reclaim home court advantage. Zeke tallied 28 points, 12 dimes and 2 takeaways to earn MVP honors. Thompson led the guests in points (30) and rebounds (20). Olajuwon tallied 25 and Sid Moncrief 23. Robert Parish topped MNM with 27 points and hauled down 12 boards. Charles Barkley had 23 rebounds to go with his 24 points. Kiki finished with 24 points.
Game 3 – Coach Kory Klecker felt in control of game 3 for about 45 minutes and as usual the ending made it an instant classic. The Muskies were up 6 at the half, up 11 after 3Q and maintained an 8-point lead with 5 minutes to go. Then the Condors made a run to close it out. CMC closed it to 2 points with three minutes to go and after Rickey Green (83% FT shooter) went 1-2 from the charity stripe, they closed it to one with two minutes to go. A Danny Ainge jumper extended the lead to 3 but it was quickly cut to 1 with a Dream Shake dunk. Defense tightened up and the lead remained one with 20 seconds left when Craig Hodges was fouled. MNM feeling really good with a 90 percent FT shooter at the line didn’t feel so good when he stoned the first FT. Hodges managed to hit the second to put the Muskies up 96-94. The Condors answered with Mychall Thompson inside to tie the game at 96 with 5 seconds to go. With the Muskies season on the line, they attempted to go to their franchise hero, Kiki Vandeweghe. The computer had other plans as the ball went to Roy Tarpley … who drove to the hoop with his coach pulling his hair out … Tarpley kicked the ball out to Rickey Green who nailed a jumper to put the Muskies up 98-96 with 0.3 seconds to go. The Condors called timeout but were unable to get a shot off. MUSKIES 98, CONDORS 96. Ainge was 5-7 from 3-point land for 26 points to go with 9 dimes for Game MVP. Vandeweghe led all scorers with 28. Green’s winning bucket gave him 11 points to go with 11 assists. Purvis Short had 20 and Isiah Thomas 19 for the Condors.
Game 4 – Game 4 started out promising for the Muskies as they built a 9-point first quarter lead. However, things quickly changed. The Condors outscored the Muskies by 13 in the 2nd to take a 4-point halftime lead. They continued to pour it on and opened up a 12-point lead after three. The Condors continued to lead by 12 with ten minutes to play when the basketball gods intervened. Charles Barkley was taken out by Akeem Olajuwon on a drive to the hoop. Olajuwon was nailed with a flagrant 2 and EJECTED from the game. Barkley nailed both FT’s and the Muskies got the ball back. Everything changed with the enforcer out of the game. Minnesota went on a 19-4 run to take a 100-97 lead with 3:30 to play. The Condors cut it to 100-99 but Minnesota opened up a 7-point lead with 23 seconds to play. A quick Condor basket and a steal cut the lead to 3 but FT’s by Hodges iced the game. CONDORS 105 MUSKIES 110. Game MVP was Danny Ainge again with 33 points and 8 assists. Kiki Vandeweghe added 32 points and Barkley added 24 points. Manute Bol and Roy Tarpley combined for 18 rebounds and 4 blocks picking up the slack for The Chief. The Condors were led by 22 points and 8 assists from Isiah Thomas and 19 points and 15 rebounds from Olajuwon before the ejection. The series moves back to Minnesota with John Lucas returning after sitting out games 3 and 4. After strong performances by Rickey Green and Manute Bol, Lucas’ and Parish’s roles going forward remain up in the air.
Game 5 – Costa Mesa knew they’d have to win at least one more game at The Barn to set up a rematch with the Fresno Stars and defend their championship trophy. They wasted no time busting out to a 41-30 first period behind Akeem Olajuwon’s 13 and Isiah Thomas’ 10 points. They didn’t let up in the second either, as The Dream tacked on a dozen more to lead all scorers with 25 at the half. Robert Parish’s 15 topped the home town Muskies. Charles Barkley put his team on his back in the 3rd period, scoring 19 of Minnesota’s 37 points to make it a 10-point game heading into the final frame. Barkley tallied 9 more points for a game-high 38 in the 4th, but The Microwave heated up and scored 13 as the Condors moved one game closer to a VBA Finals return by defeating Minnesota 144-130. Olajuwon finished with 35 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Zeke was named Game MVP with 22 points, 3 steals and a new VBA Playoffs record of 22 assists. Vinnie finished with 27 and Purvis Short added 24. Robert Parish had 21 points and a game-high 15 boards. Kiki Vandeweghe was held to 22 point and Sir Charles added 13 rebounds to his stats sheet. The series shifts back to Costa Mesa with a must-win game for Minnesota in enemy territory.
Game 6 – The Minnesota Muskies had their backs to the wall, needing to win Game 6 on the defending champions’ home court. They responded with a 33-26 first period behind the veteran Kiki Vandeweghe’s 18 points. Akeem Olajuwon took over in the second period, nearly outscoring MNM by himself. The Muskies managed only 14 points in the quarter and The Dream tallied a dozen. Costa Mesa was up 58-47 at halftime. Charles Barkely scored 15 points in the 3rd and Minnesota got the deficit under double-digits heading into the 4th (94-85 CMC). The visitors scored the first 6 points of the 4th to make it a 3-point game. The Condors took control again, building a 112-102 lead with 6:54 to go. Minnesota regrouped and pulled within 6, but that’s as close as they’d get. The Costa Mesa Condors will face the Fresno Stars in a rematch of last year’s VBA Finals to defend their crown with the 132-121 win. Purvis Short led the Condors with 28 points and 5 steals. The Microwave sizzled for 22 and Olajuwon finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 steals and was named Western Conference Finals MVP. Vandeweghe had a final tally of 27 points for MNM. Sir Charles chipped in 26 and Danny Ainge 22.