If you're the Jam, you haven't had many of these kinds of games --period.

For a team coming off a league-worst 11-39 record a year ago, Roth couldn't have expected much better, as the Jam routed the Los Angeles D-Fenders 116-90 on Friday at Staples Center in the NBA D-League season-opener for both teams.

After the onslaught was over, the Jam had four players in double figures scoring, led by forward Richard Hendrix's double-double. Hendrix dominated the low post, on his way to scoring 31 points and hauling in 14 rebounds.

"He was a monster," Roth said. "He played with some reckless abandon. I think he just felt good about being out here. He's going to be someone the league is going to have to deal with."

Maybe not for long if he continues putting up that kind of stat line. Hendrix -- a rookie on assignment from the Golden State Warriors -- was humble about his performance after the game.

"Credit goes to a lot of my teammates for giving me the ball in position to score," said Hendrix, who was 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. "It made it that much easier for me."

The Jam's other assigned player, undrafted free agent guard DeMarcus Nelson, finished with 20 points (9-of-15 from the field), and forward Nick Lewis had 18, including three 3-pointers. Trey Johnson finished with 12.

The game didn't look like a rout in the first half after the D-Fenders (0-1) went into the locker room with a 57-56 lead. That all changed, in the third quarter when the Jam reeled off a 27-2 run -- stemming from 45 seconds remaining in the second quarter -- that lasted 8:37 to give them a 78-61 lead.

Coach came in (at halftime) and said they were outplaying us, and that's something we really took to heart," Lewis said. "If there's one thing we said we didn't want to let happen this season, it's teams outplaying us. In that second half, we just said we were going to go out there and beat them up."

Said D-Fenders coach Dan Panaggio: "They came out and executed better (after halftime). I thought we got overwhelmed."

The defensive part of that third-quarter run was key. The Jam allowed the D-Fenders to shoot 56 percent (23-of-41) in the first half but clamped down in the second half, holding them to just 29 percent (11-of-38).

"Defense is most definitely what's going to keep us successful," Hendrix said. "With Mateen (Cleaves), Trey Johnson, Nick Lewis, DeMarcus Nelson, you know, we have scorers. In order for us to be as good as we want to be we have to focus on the defensive end."

To see more of The Bakersfield Californian, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bakersfield.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Bakersfield Californian Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.