The Delaware Blue Coats(G League affiliate of the Philadelphia 76ers) finished the regular season on Saturday night against the visiting Fort Wayne Mad Ants(Indiana Pacers).
The Blue Coats had already secured a playoff berth and were locked into the second seed in the East.
However, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants were looking to secure a playoff berth for the first time since 2018. The Mad Ants won the first of the two-game set in Delaware on Friday night but needed to sweep the two-game set to get into the playoffs, and they got the job done.
Fort Wayne(18-14) had six players in double figures, including all five starters, and defeated the Blue Coats 125-121 to clinch a playoff spot.
The Mad Ants finished the regular season winning five straight, while Delaware(20-12) ended the regular season losing four in a row.
Fort Wayne’s Jermaine Samuels Jr. had a game-high 31 points and 10 rebounds; Gabe York added 28 points, including six threes and grabbed 10 boards, and Pedro Bradshaw had 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Braxton Key led Delaware with 18 points; Louis King and Charlie Brown Jr. had 17 points apiece; Delaware also had six players in double figures.
Fort Wayne was the more desperate team, but you thought the season could end on Saturday night. After trailing 63-60 at the break, Delaware started the third quarter on a 16-0 run. The Mad Ants finally scored their first points of the second half at the 4:22 mark of the third quarter.
After a Ty’Shon Alexander three, the Blue Coats had their largest lead at 89-74 late in the third. However, following a timeout, Fort Wayne closed the quarter on a 10-0 run and trailed 89-84 at the end of three.
Fort Wayne took over in the fourth as Bradshaw scored 14 of his 17 points in the final stanza, and the Mad Ants had a 41-point fourth to seize control and get the much-needed win.
As the second seed in the East, Delaware will get a bye and get back at it on Thursday at Chase Fieldhouse in the second round of the G League playoffs, while the Mad Ants, the sixth seed in the East, travel to D.C. to play the Capital City Go-Go on Tuesday.
This season’s playoff format will feature four rounds and 12 total teams, the six top teams from the Eastern Conference and the six top teams from the Western Conference. The top two teams from each conference will receive a bye into the second round. The playoffs will begin with three single-elimination rounds before culminating with a best-of-three NBA G League Finals, which will be played in a one-one-one format.
