By Colin A.J. Murphy

Kevin Durant and Austin Daye squared off at center court to tip off the 2011 Goodman League Finals on Monday night. Durant's Lincoln Park defeated Daye and the DMV Hoopers, 113-92, to take a 1-0 lead in the best of three series.

In Game 1 of the Goodman League Finals on Monday night, Kevin Durant and Lincoln Park overpowered the DMV Hoopers, 113-92, despite the Hoopers’ attempt to fortify their squad by bringing the Detroit Pistons’ Austin Daye to complement Western Kentucky’s Cliff Dixon. Lincoln Park’s Dele Ojo (see a compilation of Ojo highlights here) led all scorers with 29, while Baby Shaq had 28 and Durant 27.

Dele Ojo led all scorers with 29 points in Lincoln Park's 113-92 Game 1 win over DMV Hoopers.

While the DMV Hoopers are obviously a strong squad, they looked overmatched throughout most of the game due to the offensive firepower of the KD-Ojo-Baby Shaq trio. Daye was the logical choice to guard Durant during the game, being the DMV Hoopers’ longest and most versatile player and Durant’s only NBA peer on the court. But over a seven-possession stretch in the first half, KD nailed two fadeaway jumpers from the left wing over the fully outstretched arms of Daye; a top-of-the-key burst of crossovers into a 15-foot jumper (think Iverson on Jordan); a ridiculous posterization plus the foul of a Hooper who will remain unnamed via an alley-oop pass from Ojo (see below); a cupping-the-ball, reverse slam on the baseline (reminiscent of this Jerry Stackhouse dunk, complete with the and-one and all); and a stepback three over Daye to put Lincoln Park up 56-46 at the half.

To Sarah Hicks and all my female readers: it's not a manicure...

It's not a pedicure...

It's a FACIAL.

While Durant was putting on his usual show offensively, Ojo was the perfect Robin to KD’s Batman. Playing point guard, he is one of the Goodman League’s leading rebounders, and it only requires a few possessions watching him to see why. He attacks the glass defensively and loves to get out and push. Offensively he drove the DMV Hoopers and their coach crazy all night by flying in for the board and putback several times too many. He should likewise be given some frequent flyer miles for his repeated coast-to-coast trips.

Ojo skied past Daye on this coast-to-coast finish in Lincoln Park's 113-92 win.

After Lincoln Park had built a double digit lead in the second half, they coasted on the shoulders of Baby Shaq. They cleared out for him on four straight possessions, which he used to take his man baseline off the dribble on the ride side for the one-handed tomahawk dunk, drive from the right wing and finish with a nifty finger roll, stop and pop from about 10 feet, and nail a three pointer from the right wing. At that point, Lincoln Park was up by 20 points and DMV Hoopers looked thoroughly defeated.

I don't think this qualifies as getting a hand in the face of the shooter. Baby Shaq had 28 points.

NOTES

• A note to young ballers out there: it's cool to start warming up before you put your shoes on.

• As I mentioned above, this dunk by Durant (see below) reminded me of Jerry Stackhouse.

• The Melo-Goodman game on Tuesday night has been moved to Morgan State University.

• Game 2 of the Goodman League Finals will be played Wednesday at 7 p.m.

• To see highlights of this game and others from the Goodman League, visit The Mars Reel.

• Fans of the Wizards/Bullets, be sure to check out the D.C. blog Truth About It. For additional national NBA news, columns, photos, and features, visit Hoopspeak.

• Contact Colin Murphy at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; follow him on Twitter @ColinAJMurphy