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Colorado blowout eliminates T-Birds
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Michael Cooper's last game as coach of the Albuquerque Thunderbirds ended in a 30-point blowout defeat.
The Colorado 14ers eliminated the Thunderbirds from the NBA Development League playoffs with a 130-100 victory on Wednesday night in Denver.
Albuquerque fell short in its quest for back-to-back D-League championships with the loss.
Cooper, the former University of New Mexico and Los Angeles Lakers star, is leaving the Thunderbirds to return to coaching the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks.
Cooper guided the T-Birds to the D-League title in their inaugural season a year ago. This year, the Thunderbirds struggled at times, but a three-game win streak to end the season was enough to get them into the playoffs.
Dijon Thompson led the Thunderbirds with 24 points, six rebounds and five assists. Teammate Julius Hodge added 11 points and 12 assists.
Albuquerque finishes the season at 24-27. Colorado improves to 29-22 and advances to the D-League Western Division final against the Idaho Stampede on Friday night in Boise.
Colorado jumped out to a double-digit lead less than three minutes into the second quarter, and led by as many as 33 in the second half. The 14ers were led by Elton Brown's 28 points and 11 rebounds, his 21st double-double of the season. Pooh Jeter added 18 of his 28 points in the second half in helping Colorado to the win.
"To beat the defending champions is always tough, and our guys were up to the task," said 14ers coach Joe Wolf.
Six of the eight Colorado players scored in double figures in the win. Terrence Crawford posted his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

