Stockton Kings guard Jon Elmore was mid-answer in the postgame media scrum when his youngest daughter, Tilly, ran into his arms.
He had been discussing championship pedigree — what comes with it, what it means.
Then he paused, scooping her up from the ground, and boiled it down.
“One game and you’re in Cancun,” Elmore said.
In front of 1,705 fans at Adventist Health Arena in Stockton on Wednesday, April 1, the No. 3 Stockton Kings led for all but two minutes in a 116-104 win over the No. 6 Iowa Wolves, backing up that mindset as they continued their NBA G League title defense in the single-elimination Western Conference quarterfinals.
The win advances the Kings to the semifinals, which they will host Friday, April 3 against the Rip City Remix at 7 p.m. PT.
“The thing we harped on most going into the playoffs was that we have to cherish each possession, capitalize on each one and make the most of it,” Elmore said. “You can’t have any lulls in playoff games like this. You’ve got to play 48 minutes.”
Guard Dexter Dennis added, “It’s single-game elimination. You can’t afford an off night in the playoffs because it’ll cost you, and you’ll be going home.”
Fresh off a three-game stint with the Sacramento Kings, guard DaQuan Jeffries delivered, scoring 13 of his team-high 27 points in the fourth quarter.
Forward Patrick Baldwin Jr., on a two-way contract with Sacramento, added 25 points and 10 rebounds, while Jameer Nelson Jr. provided a spark off the bench with 21.
“Individually, they’re great players,” coach Will Scott said. “But they complement each other really well. We have a lot of weapons on this team, and we know it can be anybody’s night. Several of them had great moments in this game.”
Among those contributors were Elmore and Dennis, both returners from last year’s team. Elmore posted a team-high plus-32, finishing with eight points and 14 assists without a turnover, while Dennis had 14 points.
“High-level teammates and coaches that believe in me,” Elmore said. “They put the ball in my hands a lot and let me orchestrate the offense. Our guys make plays, whether that’s cutting off the ball or knocking down shots. My job is to put my teammates in advantageous positions, and they capitalized. I’ve got to give them credit.”
For the Wolves, Enrique Freeman, on a two-way contract with Minnesota, led all scorers with 30 points. Guard Jalen Crutcher had 22 points and seven assists, while 2025 second-round pick Rocco Zikarsky finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
“There are definitely things we can improve on,” Scott said. “We can play a more complete game. But it was a battle, and they’re a really good team. We respect Iowa — they’re well coached — so to get a win over them says a lot about our team.”
‘Unselfish, play team ball and have buy-in’
All the credit goes to the organization.
When the former No. 28 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors made his Stockton Kings debut on March 13, Baldwin Jr. made an immediate impact — 31 points, 12 rebounds and a game-winning shot in overtime against the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
From there, it was simple: let him do his thing.
Not because he has 102 NBA games under his belt. Not because he had already played three NBA games with the Kings, two with the Philadelphia 76ers and one with the Los Angeles Clippers this season.
That’s simply what the most successful teams in the G League do.
“I feel like when he arrived, we welcomed him with open arms,” Dennis said. “We had played him earlier this year and joked about it, but Pat’s been a great addition for us. He’s come in, no trouble at all. He’s about the right things.”
Stockton came out firing from deep, opening on a 16-7 run and taking a 37-32 lead after the first quarter.
Baldwin scored 11 points, Jaylin Williams added nine off the bench, and the Kings connected on 7-of-12 from 3-point range.
“He’s got great tools,” Scott said. “His size, shot-blocking, rebounding and getting in the mix.”
The Wolves took their fourth lead — their first since the 3:53 mark of the first quarter — with under a minute left, but Baldwin’s 18 points helped the Kings hold a slim 60-59 lead at halftime.
“To be successful, you’ve got to be unselfish, play team ball and have buy-in,” Elmore said. “I think we’ve done that every step of the way.”
‘Pro guy doing pro things’
Not even 72 hours had passed.
On March 29, Jeffries was in Brooklyn with Sacramento, scoring 14 points in 26 minutes. The day before, he was in Atlanta, where he had 15 points in 27 minutes.
So when he told a fan midway through the second quarter that he was exhausted, it made sense.
Sacramento wrapped up its five-game road trip with a 123-115 win in Toronto midway through this one, leaving Jeffries to catch a commercial flight back instead of returning with the team.
“He’s been a pro in every aspect, off the court and on the court,” Dennis said. “He’s just a pro guy doing pro things.”
Defense took over in the third quarter as both teams cooled off offensively.
The Kings stretched their lead by holding Iowa to just 19 points, carrying an 84-78 advantage into the final 12 minutes.
“I thought our experience took over in those big moments,” Scott said.
Behind Jeffries 13-point fourth-quarter surge, Stockton pushed ahead for its first double-digit lead midway through the fourth and stayed in control.
Jeffries knocked down a right-wing fadeaway 3-pointer that felt like the dagger, but Elmore answered with one of his own, stretching the lead to 116-102 with 34 seconds left.
“DJ is a heck of a talent,” Elmore said. “A heck of a person on and off the court. He’s played in NBA games and has a lot of high-level experience, so he’s been a leader for the team. He doesn’t always say a lot, but he leads by action.”
This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton Kings advance to NBA G League Western Conference semifinals
Reporting by Dylan Ackermann, The Stockton Record / The Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
