The Austin Spurs end their regular season on Saturday but don’t expect the NBA Development League assignments of Lamar Patterson and Edy Tavares to conclude.
The Hawks rookies are expected to remain with Austin during the playoffs.
The D-League postseason begins on Tuesday.
The Spurs host the Los Angeles D-Fenders on Friday and the Texas Legends on Saturday. They currently lead the Southwest Division of the Western Conference with a 28-20 record. All for division winners plus two wild cards from each conference make the postseason. The D-League playoffs consist of three rounds with each a best-of-three series. In the first round, the wild card team hosts the first game before moving to a second and third (if necessary) game. In the next two rounds, the team with the lesser regular-season record hosts the first game before moving to the home of the team with the better mark for the second and third (if necessary) game.
Tavares, a 7-foot-3 center, has appeared in 27 D-League games in 10 stints with the Austin Spurs, Bakersfield Jam and Canton Charge. He has averaged 9.0 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in 21.6 minutes. Tavares has a total of 95 blocks, including a 10-block game against the Santa Cruz Warriors on March 27. In the 11 games of his most recent, and only extended, D-League stay, Tavares averaged 8.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.8 blocks.
Patterson, a 6-5 guard/forward, has appeared in 17 D-League games in six stints with the Austin Spurs and Canton Charge. He has averaged 13.6 points, 4.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 27.4 minutes.
