Hustle fall short to Santa Cruz in Kendric Davis’s return home.

After a week-long hiatus, the Memphis Hustle were officially back in action to take on the Santa Cruz Warriors to kick off a six-game home stand. This was also former Memphis Tigers guard Kendric Davis’s first return to Memphis in his professional career, and the love was most definitely still present. This ended up being a tough game that was fought tooth and nail and ultimately decided at the final buzzer, and even though it was a loss for the Hustle, it was still a very impressive game, highlighting the growth of this squad.

Santa Cruz jumped out to an early lead in this one after the Hustle seemed to be issuing the first blows in the opening minutes. Donovan Williams had a very impressive first quarter for the Warriors, establishing 11 first quarter points to help them establish an 11-point lead heading out of the first quarter, with Kendric Davis dishing out four assists and zero turnovers. Matthew Hurt had an early 10 but, outside of him, first quarter scoring and ball movement were pretty scarce for Memphis before rallying back for a 37 point quarter that sent the Hustle into the halftime break clinging to a two-point 68-66 lead.

After sparing Memphis in the first half, Kendric Davis decided it was time to remind Memphis of what he was so amazing at doing. Scoring and facilitating. After only eight points and four rebounds in the first half, Davis went primetime and scored and dished for an impressive 15 points and seven assists to finish with 23 points and 14 assists on the evening with zero turnovers. He managed to score much-needed buckets and also set up teammates in great positions to hit shots that ultimately won him the game. After the victory, I asked Davis about his acclimation to league basketball and what he has had to adjust about his game. He simply said,

“I just let the game come to me… The knock on me in college was that I was a “scoring guard.” The older I got, the more required I was to score. If you go back and look, in college, my first two years, I was top- five in the country in assists. That’s who I am.”

He also provided that working with Nicholas Kerr, the development staff, Stephen Curry, and Chris Paul while having a staff that trusts in him and pushes him makes a definitive difference in his game. He spoke very highly of his team, his teammates, and his organization. He also spoke highly of the city of Memphis and talked about how this is still home for him and his family.

As for the Hustle, the only thing left to do besides try to contain KD was make the Warriors pay for not being able to contain Matthew Hurt, who was on an absolute heater for the evening. Hurt poured in 35 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists while nearly sinking an insanely clutch game-winning three-pointer that was close to gliding through the net. Dejon Jarreau nearly supplied another triple-double with 18 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists, just shy of achieving a second straight double-double. Adonis Arms played the energizer roll with an invisible battery taped on his back while pouring in 24 points, four rebounds, and four assists, including an emphatic jam that catapulted the Hustle back into the game. Lucas Williamson also hit some clutch threes down the stretch but it just wasn’t enough on the evening.

This was a game of runs, and unfortunately for our guys, Santa Cruz had the last one, and despite the loss, it was still a damn entertaining game.

The Hustle seek revenge versus the Santa Cruz Warriors on Monday and look to steal back a W at home. Tip will be live from the Landers Center in Southaven, Mississippi, at 7:00 p.m. The game will be available for viewing on https://gleague.nba.com/.

For tickets, call (901) 888-HOOP, visit https://memphis.gleague.nba.com/ticket-central, or visit the Landers Center box office.

Follow Myke on Twitter/X by clicking here.