Midwest Division foes square off to tip-off the season again in 2021-22. Both teams met to start the 2019-20 campaign, which is the last season the Skyforce played, as the organization opted out of the bubble in 2020-21. The contest also marks 608 days since Sioux Falls last competed in a regular season G League contest.
The Skyforce finished with a 2-1 record over the Wolves in 2019-20. However, Iowa took the last meeting 123-117 on Feb. 5, 2020.
Sioux Falls has an almost entirely new feel to it coming into the two-game series with Iowa, with Trey Mourning as the lone returner from the 2019-20 season. However, there is continuity with coaching.
Kasib Powell enters his first season at the helm, but fifth as a coach with the organization, as he an assistant coach under Nevada Smith and Eric Glass. Powell, an inaugural member of the Skyforce Basketball Hall of Fame, won G League MVP in 2007-08 for the Skyforce.
Sioux Falls looks to rely on the services of nine-year NBA veteran Brandon Knight, the team’s sixth overall pick in the 2021 G League Draft. Micah Potter will seek to continue the successful start to his pro career, as he posted two games in the preseason with 10-or-more points and 15-or-more rebounds for the Miami HEAT.
The Skyforce is coming off a 104-90 victory over G League Ignite in the team’s long exhibition game of the season. DJ Stewart led the squad with 26 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Stewart netted 23-of-26 points in the first half.
The Wolves feature a familiar face to the Skyforce in forward Chris Silva. He was a two-way player for the Skyforce in 2019-20. Silva was then signed to a standard NBA contract with the Miami HEAT and was assigned to the Skyforce in January. In two games, he posted 23 points on 10-12 FGA, 10 rebounds and five blocks for the Skyforce.
WHAT: Skyforce at Iowa Wolves
WHEN: 7:00 PM CST, November 6; 7:00 PM CST, November 8
WHERE: Wells Fargo Arena
WATCH: NBAGLeague.com