The Memphis Hustle were back in action versus the Capitanes to kick off night one of their back-to-back in Mexico City. The Hustle, who are once again left even more shorthanded due to the contract conversion of G.G. Jackson II, the waiving of Jacob Gilyard, and the 10-day call-up of Matthew Hurt, were left searching for answers in the Wednesday night blowout as they failed to find any momentum in this matchup.
The Capitanes, who are led by the veteran experience of former NBA veterans Kenneth Faried and Juan Tuscano-Anderson, looked extremely polished in this matchup and didn’t seem to miss a beat all evening. Ethan Thompson was the captain of this smooth sail as he charged the Capitanes with 23 points, six assists, and five rebounds with 0 turnovers and 53% shooting from the field. The Capitanes out-rebounded, out-assisted, and out-scored the Hustle while dropping 21 three-pointers as opposed to Memphis’s nine on a near 50% clip on the evening. All Mexico City players played with efficiency, and ultimately all finished with +/-. Just an insanely good showing for this team.
The Hustle played maybe their worst game of the season on Wednesday night. All players finished negative in (+/-) efficiency; they shot 9-33 from the three-point line, got out-rebounded by a wide margin, played some of their worst defense of the year, and were incapable of establishing any sort of presence of flow in this game. Adonis Arms fell just short of 20 points, snapping his streak of eight straight games of 20 or more, yet still led all Hustle players in scoring on the evening. Loudon Love also provided 18 points and three boards. It was a tough fate for the Hustle on the evening, but what is most important is how they respond tomorrow night.
The Hustle will once again be live from Mexico on Thursday night as they seek revenge on the Capitanes after a tough blowout. Same time, same place, different day. The tip will be live at 8:00 p.m. CDT.
The game will be available for viewing on ESPN+.
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(Photo via @MemphisHustle on Instagram)