Dunk 71, Shox 69

The Divorce Special was predicted to be a goodie and it lived up to it's promise. Although the key matchup never materialized as Justin Leonard couldn't make it, Rafael DaSilva was everything that Dunk could have wanted when they traded for him. Early on, DaSilva was the difference maker as Dunk started the game on an 8-0 run in the first two minutes. And if it was going to be a fast-paced, uptempo game, that was going to favor them tremendously.

For Shox though, their game plan was simple: have Christian Grant-Fields attack the rim. And that's what he was going from the get-go. All and-one everything was the theme for Grant-Fields as he kept getting fouls and converting after the whistle, and that was needed to quell Dunk fire. And in addition to three-the-hard-way, Stalley was setting up shop and appeared to be running a clinic behind the three-point arc. We're pretty sure that during the game a trending topic on Twitter was #fearthebeard. Check for yourself.

But as both teams traded buckets, it was Dunk that was making noise with their Villanova-style guard set of DaSilva, Bobbito Garcia and Bang Takenouchi. These three were a terror on both ends, and are probably one reason the AND 1 Mixtape Tour went out of business. To end the half, this trio played amazing defense for a solid 45-second stint that cause Shox to not know what hit them. By halftime, Dunk led 38-36.

In the second half, it was more of the same. Shox was able to find Pat Cassidy open in the corner for a quick deuce, while DaSilva (who flew back from Brazil earlier this morning) continued to impress in his Dunk debut. But the man keeping the pace was Stalley, who was simply raining murder from behind the arc, converting on perhaps more threes that he made all year for Air Force 1. After back-to-back triples, Shox took a 54-48 lead at the 10-minute mark.

Then as Paul Rivera put it, the show became "All Raf Everything." As Dunk climbed back in it, the tables turned as Takenouchi converted an and-one to put them up 64-62 with two minutes left. Grant-Fields responded with a bucket plus the foul of his own, but was unable to convert at the stripe. Tied 64-64 with 1:15 left, the game ended with Grant-Fields and DaSilva converting only one-of-two at the stripe. Overtime.

In OT, it was all Dunk everything. Thomas Harden kicked things off with a three, and then Will Dubose hit two at the line (the first one bouncing off the back rim, the of the backboard and then the bottom of the net. But Shox didn't quit. Down four with under 30 seconds to play, Grant-Fields got the bucket & foul value meal one last time. Missing the free throw, Shox got the offensive rebound with 6.2 seconds left, but was unable to convert. Game over.

Final score: Dunk wins, 71-69.

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