Austin Spurs Return Home for Texas Showdown with Rio Grande Valley

After dropping the second game of a two-game series 104-100 to Birmingham, the Austin Spurs will look to bounce back at home in a rivalry game vs the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. They will have to progress this season without the star man in Alize Johnson, who has recently signed a contract with the big league club. Johnson was averaging almost a double-double and was a consistent top performer for Austin in the early part of the season.

A player that has been up and down from the NBA to the G-League, Johnson will hope to impress while with the Spurs to maintain his spot on a rebuilding roster. Meanwhile, Rio Grande Valley last played on November 29th in a win over Birmingham, as they are currently on a four-game winning streak. This will surely be a tough midweek test for Austin, but they are back at the H-E-B Center in front of great fans.

Austin Spurs vs. Rio Grande Valley Vipers Preview

When: December 1st, 2022
Time: 7:00 P.M CST
Location: Bert Ogden Arena, Edinburg, Texas
How to watch: ESPN+

Austin Spurs Preview

Austin will be looking to rebound after a tough 104-100 loss to Birmingham in the final game of a two-game series. The dynamic duo of Alize Johnson and Chaundee Brown Jr. were back at it again for the Spurs. Johnson had 20 points and 13 rebounds while Brown Jr. led the scoring with 23 points while also racking up six rebounds and six assists. Now Austin has a dilemma with Johnson recently being called up to the big league club. They will have to find ways of keeping the same amount of offensive production in order to grind out wins. While the defense has steadily improved, it is still not at the level that it needs to be.

Another positive for the Spurs is that Charles Bassey appears to be returning to the roster. Bassey had an explosive start to the season, wrecking habit from the center position during the early half of November. He will hope to continue to do the same as he rejoins a talented roster that also contains former NBA Veteran Kenneth Faried.

Rio Grande Valley Vipers Preview

The Vipers have hit some tremendous form during this recent stretch as they hope to make it four in a row with a win against Austin. A roster that is led by some familiar names is really starting to get into a group, which is a worry for Austin fans. TyTy Washington has been one of the standouts this season, as he racked up 20 points against Birmingham on November 29th. A familiar name in former first-round pick Willie Cauley-Stein had eight points and seven rebounds and forward Darius Days had 12 points and eight rebounds. While RGV really doesn’t have superstar names, they pride themselves on team play and contribution from every player that gets minutes. They are a well-oiled machine that will be tough for any team in the G-League to beat, and this will be an extremely tough test for Austin as they return home.