BIG3 Week 3: Oklahoma, where the threes go sweeping down the plain

Power continued to prove it's the greatest BIG3 team ever to share a name with a Starz original drama produced by 50 Cent. Cuttino Mobley continued his ice-cold-yet-clutch shooting, hitting two game-winning free throws after going 7-21 from the field. Overall he’s at 29 percent for the season, and his team is undefeated. 

The Power has barely turned the ball over, DeShawn Stevenson has been the most dependable BIG3 player with a neck tattoo of Abe Lincoln and the team hasn’t yet missed the injured Corey Maggette. His replacement, Paul McPherson, has come in to rebound, foul constantly and get lots of dunks. That’s a step up from Maggette’s traveling, constant foul-drawing and netting 42 percent of his mid-range jumpers.

Meanwhile, the 3 Headed Monsters got blown out in the first half last week, scoring only nine points. Rashard Lewis had seven of them, so everyone else let down their captain. Clearly they miss White Chocolate. Eddie Basden does his best, but he’s a shooting guard, and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf is 48 years old. 

Power might have trouble with the 3 Headed Monsters’ length, though the team is probably happy to let Kwame Brown post up. Unless the Monsters can get some outside shooting beyond Lewis, we’re looking at another Power surge.

Prediction: Power wins 50-44, Mobley misses 15 shots.

Game 2: Killer 3s (0-2) vs. Tri-State (0-2)

Al Harrington still thinks the Killer 3s are the best team in the league. Well, second-best behind his own Trilogy team. They Killer 3s were much better last week, even as they dropped to 0-2. The big story was that Chauncey Billups returned to the team. He chose Charles Oakley and Stephen Jackson over Dan Gilbert and LeBron James. Yes, Ice Cube’s three-on-three league is more appealing than the front office of the 2016 NBA champions. (There’s no truth to the rumor that negotiations broke down when the Killer 3s demanded the Cavs send them Richard Jefferson for compensation for signing Chauncey.)

The Killer 3s finally had both their captains and a much more balanced team overall. The trio of Billups, Jackson and Reggie Evans was effective, but the team only got four points from Larry Hughes and Brian Grant off the bench. Still, Chauncey hit two four-pointers, and the team was down only a point when a questionable flagrant foul call on Jackson led to four game-icing free throw points.

Meanwhile, Tri-State was up 40-25 and 42-29 against the Ball Hogs before everything fell apart. The team scored only two points, and that was on a free throw. They missed jumpers, they missed three-pointers and they missed dunks. In total, they missed their final 10 field goal attempts, six of them by Mike James. Maybe they got tired. If so, that’s a bad sign for Week 2 of a half-court basketball league. They should have Jermaine O’Neal back, but that still leaves Mike James as the only long-range threat. Expect the Killer 3s to rely even more on Mr. Big Shot in Week 3, and if Larry Hughes can do anything, it’s a wrap

Prediction: Killer 3’s win 50-42, Chauncey hits three four-pointers and Stack Jack gets another technical foul.

Game 3: Ball Hogs (1-1) vs. Ghost Ballers (1-1)

The Ball Hogs were reeling, down 40-27, 10 points away from 0-2 and possibly getting Rick Barry fired from another pro basketball league. At that moment, Brian Scalabrine made the kind of smart, heady basketball decision that he’s known for: He took himself out of the game. The White Mamba-less Ball Hogs, emboldened by Scalabrine’s coaching and absence from the court, closed the game on a 21-2 run. Derrick Byars and Rasual Butler poured in shots, perhaps seeing the rim better when not blinded by the light reflecting off of Scalabrine’s alabaster arms. Regardless, it was a gutty effort, which is what you need to take down a Lee Nailon-led powerhouse team like Tri-State.

The Ghost Ballers also got their first win thanks to a dominant Mike Bibby performance (20 points on 12 shots, seven rebounds, four assists), including two more four-point buckets. They avoided fouling and got a very restrained performance from Ricky Davis, who had as many assists as points (four). He hasn’t even taken a four-pointer yet! To preserve his reputation, Ricky Davis has got to start doing Ricky Davis stuff again. Too bad there’s no way to shoot at your own basket in a half-court game.

The Ball Hogs are going to go as far as Byars and Butler can take them. Last week they shot 56 percent combined, and in Week 1 they shot 36 percent combined. Expect Ivan Johnson to feast inside, Byars to continue his hot play, but the Bibby factor has to make the Ghost Ballers a slight favorite. And Ricky Davis is DUE.

Prediction: Ghost Ballers win 51-46 on a three-pointer from Davis, when they only needed a two to win.

Game 4: Trilogy (2-0) vs. 3's Company (1-1)

Allen Iverson is by far the most popular player in the BIG3, with fans cheering him the loudest no matter where the games are played. (Although Tulsa might be a real Scalabrine town.) However, he hasn’t been shooting well and tends to play limited minutes if the opponent has size, which is the case this week against Trilogy. So the offensive load goes to Andre Owens and DerMarr Johnson, with Al Thornton chipping in. That threesome might not have enough defense to close games — they gave up five dunks to close the game against Ghost Ballers, while missing their last eight attempts on the offensive end, which is the exact same end where they were getting dunked on. It’s half court.

Trilogy got another 20 points from Al Harrington, who credited a group text chain for the team’s excellent chemistry in the 50-37 win. Good for them, but were players really not texting their teammates until Week 2? Maybe it’s a generational thing: Over-35 players may not be entirely comfortable using emojis. Just look at Paul Pierce!

Kenyon Martin may be returning to Trilogy this week — he’s still banged up — and if so, that gives Trilogy a huge advantage inside. With James “Flight” White and Rashad McCants, they’ve also got superior athleticism with their wing players. Dion Glover had five assists one game. Though you might wish for a more traditional point guard, Trilogy has excellent balance. If Owens can take over the game again, or if Iverson plays more minutes, 3's Company has a chance. But it’s more likely that Trilogy has too many weapons, too much defense and an unstoppable text chain. McCants is only 31 — I bet he even taught his teammates how to send gifs.

Prediction: Trilogy wins 50-43, Iverson holds emotional press conference where he asks, “We talkin’ ‘bout texting? Texting?”