Taylor, Shengelia shine in Armor loss

Tyshawn Taylor

Tyshawn Taylor
Tyshawn Taylor (AP)
Brooklyn Nets rookies Tyshawn Taylor and Tornike Shengelia both had monster games for the Nets D-League affiliate Springfield Armor, but it wasn’t enough as the Armor fell to the Austin Toros, 129-123 in overtime.

Shengelia finished with 27 points on 11-21 shooting (2-3 from deep), adding six rebounds. Taylor finished with 25 points on 10-16 shooting (also 2-3 from deep), adding seven assists, but also seven turnovers. Former first-round pick Dominique Jones led the Armor with 28 points and nine assists.

The game story, per the Armor:

The Armor (17-26) held a 66-54 halftime lead and led by as many as 21 points in the third quarter, but the Toros (24-18) made their move in the fourth quarter. Trailing by 17 points (99-82) heading into the fourth, Austin began the quarter on a 19-2 run to erase the entire Armor advantage. Springfield battled back to earn a seven-point lead (121-114) with 40.9 seconds to go, but the Toros ended regulation on a 7-0 run, punctuated by a JaMychal Green layup, to send the game into overtime.

The Toros’ Lester Hudson buried back-to-back threes to start the three-minute overtime period and Austin never looked back. Kris Joseph got the Armor within four points with a driving layup, but another Green layup pushed the Toros’ lead back to six points, 129-123, as Austin held on for the road victory.

D-League player of the week Willie Reed of #CallWillieUp fame did not dress due to bursitis in his right elbow.