Ray Parks Jr.'s sensational shooting effort can't push the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins to the 2024 B.League B1 Finals.
Ray Parks Jr.’s third B.League season ends in a tough do-or-die loss in the semifinals.
Faced with a deciding Game 3 at home, the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins dropped a
79-73 decision to Hiroshima Monday, as the Dragonflies advanced to their first-ever B1 Finals.
As opposed to the first two games of the series, where Nagoya built double-digit leads each time, it was Hiroshima that seized control early in Game 3.
But Parks Jr. waxed hot in third quarter, scoring 15 points in the period to help the Diamond Dolphins regain momentary lead after being down by as many as 10 points.
However, Nagoya’s offense fell flat in the fourth as the Dragonflies slowly put the game away behind the monster effort of Dwyane Evans.
Evans finished with 28 big points, 19 in the second half, as he makes a second B1 Finals in three years. He was with the Ryukyu Golden Kings that made the title series in 2022, but ended up losing to Utsunomiya.
Now, Evans will wait to face either his old team in the Golden Kings or the red-hot Chiba Jets in the 2024 B1 Finals.
Ryo Yamazaki and Nick Mayo added 19 apiece for Hiroshima. The Dragondflies become only the third wildcard team in B1 history to make the Finals.
The aforementioned Parks Jr. led the way for Nagoya with 20 points spiked by four triples, all of them coming in the Diamond Dolphins’ spirited third-quarter rally. This was Ray's best playoff performance in three seasons in Japan.
Despite the exit, reaching Game 3 of the semifinals marks the best finish for the Dolphins in their B1 history.