Leicester Riders are ready for their final action of 2024, hosting London Lions in the Super League Basketball Championship.
The 6-2 Riders cast their eyes up the table, looking to chip into the table-topping Lions’ two win advantage over them.
Leicester enter the tie on a five game League winning streak having beaten Bristol Flyers on December 27, and will want to end the year with a bang.
Meanwhile the Lions haven’t lost yet in December, sitting in first place with an 8-2 record.
Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game…
Fixture information
Leicester Riders vs London Lions
Super League Basketball Championship
December 30, 7:30 pm
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Riders rounding off 2024
A victory on Friday saw the Riders return to winning ways against Bristol Flyers, following their exit of the SLB Trophy in the semi-final stage. They came charging out the game to take a big lead early, which they held until the final buzzer despite an attempted Flyers comeback.
The Club’s leading scorer on the season, Zach Jackson, put up his fifth 20 point game in the league campaign so far to earn Player of the Game honours, while the defensive contributions from big man pairing Charles Thompson and Duke Shelton produced 5 blocks.
They held the Flyers to 74 points, maintaining the best defensive record in the country with 76.3 points allowed per game. Thompson leads the league in blocks by a considerable margin, blocking 2.9 shots per game with the next highest average at 1.6, and he added another 3 to his tally on Friday.
“Holding Bristol to 74 points is a really good defensive effort- they can be tough to cover at times,” said Head Coach Rob Patrnostro following the win.
“That was the key to the game- really being stingy defensively and not giving them too many second opportunities at the rim.
“Duke had a really good game tonight coming off the bench, both scoring and protecting the basket. His energy was important for us. And Charles is putting together a real high-quality season here. You watch him every day in practice and the way he is developing on both ends of the floor is great to see. This type of performance is what we expect from him now.
“All in all it was a really impressive victory in a tricky time of the year.”
Lions leading the League
After a slow start to the season saw London crash out of the Trophy at the group phase, the Lions regathered themselves to get off to a League-leading start to their Championship season.
They enter the game on a three game league winning streak and an undefeated December, giving them an 8-2 record ahead of the 7-3 Sheffield Sharks and 6-2 Riders.
London, the most efficient team in the League this season with a 49.15 field goal percentage, hang their hat on the defensive end like the Riders. They allow the second fewest points per game with 78.33 per outing, and block the most shots with a 5.11 average.
They’re led by former G-Leager Jaiden Delaire, who is averaging 1.6 blocks on the defensive end and 13.4 points on offence. He added another 16 points and 2 blocks to his season last time out in the team’s impressive 96-74 home win against Cheshire Phoenix.
Wins against the Sheffield Sharks and Newcastle Eagles during the early stages of the season has established the Lions as the team to beat going into 2025, and the Riders will look to do just that in their final outing of the year in an important clash at the top of the standings.
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