COMO Finals: Newport Beach overcomes 3-1 deficit, defeats Shorewood for first championship4/12/2018 SHOREWOOD, Minn. — Already down 2-0 in the COMO Finals on Easter weekend, Newport Beach was minutes from a 3-0 hole. Shorewood, the behemoth dynasty that had produced a 77-win regular season and cruised through its first 8 playoff games, had its nail ready. But Newport's coffin refused to close. Rarely-used guard Caris LeVert produced 37 bones (19 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists) to turn the Grizzlies' 34-point deficit into a 3-point win at the buzzer. Without LeVert's heroics, Newport Beach wouldn't have been soaked in Grain Belt on Wednesday night in the visitor's locker room at Big Reggie's Danceland. Led by COMO Finals MVP Russell Westbrook (35.56 bones over the seven contests), the Grizzlies turned an eventual 3-1 series deficit into three straight victories and a long-awaited title. A surefire third-straight Finals disappointment seemed imminent ... until it wasn't. "Feels like a long time coming," owner and general manager Peter Mayer told The O.C. Register. "It would have been pretty deflating to lose three straight Finals, so I'm glad we got one. And to do it with [John] Wall back home..." Wall, who spent 2013-2016 in Newport Beach before winning a title with St. Louis last season (over the Grizzlies, it should be stated), is the only player to have his jersey hanging from the rafters at Cohen Arena. He returned to Newport this Jan. 5 via a trade with Manhattan, and poured in a game-high 44 bones in Game 7. Newport also got a great playoff performance from superstar LeBron James, who averaged 36.12 bones over 25 postseason starts and was narrowly edged out by Westbrook for Finals MVP honors. Both James and Westbrook were once members of Shorewood, and a Feb. 2014 trade between the Show and Grizzlies — sending, among other pieces, Curry to Shorewood and Westbrook to Newport Beach — set the table for these two franchises to dominate the past five postseasons (at least one of them has participated in all five COMO Finals). "It further proves that trade is the biggest in league history," Mayer said. Curry, unfortunately, injured his knee in Game 1 and was lost for the remainder of the series. "I think Steph's absence was noticeable," Mayer said. "Not to take anything away from our guys though, because we had a guy go down in [Joel] Embiid, too. But we smelled blood in the water after Curry went down, and took advantage." In the home locker room, Shorewood players and coaches sat in stunned silence. Legendary coach Bobby Finstock refused to meet with reporters, while owner and general manager Alex Smith offered only one statement in lieu of answering questions. "This was one hell of an accomplishment by the guys in that other room," Smith said of Newport Beach's comeback. "This was our year all the way up until the finish line. There had never been five months of basketball like what we played. Never. And to let it slip away like this ..." Smith paused, then collected himself. "F---in' Caris LeVert." 2018 All-COMO Playoffs Team PG Russell Westbrook, Newport Beach (33.14 / 22 starts) SG Ben Simmons, Shorewood (28.29 / 21 starts) SF LeBron James, Newport Beach (36.12 / 25 starts) PF Nikola Jokic, Shorewood (35.00 / 17 starts) C Anthony Davis, Minnesnowta (42.30 / 10 starts) 6TH Jrue Holiday, Newport Beach (26.32 / 22 starts)
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