D-League All-Star Game Recap

Sims and Ahearn shine in a competitive game.

by Joseph Vecsey

The Red Team defeated the Blue Team 113-103 in the third annual D-League All-Star Game Saturday night. Courtney Sims and Blake Ahearn were co-awarded the MVP.

Having experienced many NBA All-Star games, it might not be crazy to say that the D-League game could be more competitive than what we saw Saturday night at the Phoenix Convention Center. Every D-League All-Star is trying to make the NBA, so they played their hardest, trying to show their skill in the best way possible. It was truly a pleasure to watch.

How amazing would it be to see the NBA All-Stars play hard for 48 minutes? It’s unfortunate we don’t get to see the best players in the world go at it for the entire game.

Sims, who signed a second 10-day contract with the Suns Friday, had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks for the Red team. The Red team was down at the half, but ended up coming back strong. Blake Ahearn moved the ball well, and it was great to see the pass-first point guard go to work. You don’t always see a lot of those guys around.

Ahearn said he enjoys passing and will hit the open man no matter what, which is a great way to play. At the same time Ahearn, who had 13 points and 13 assists (only committing 2 turnovers), is the third leading scorer for the Dakota Wizards. Dude can get buckets when he needs to.

It was a fantastic game to watch with some nice dunks and long 3s being dropped from far out and it was cool to see super talented players who are all so close to achieving their dreams of playing in the NBA one day competing against each other with such effort and intensity.