Dial 905: Long Island Nets Series – Raptors 905 showing signs of life

The Raptors 905 snapped a five game losing streak with a win against the Long Island Nets.

The Raptors 905 managed to get a split against the high-octane Long Island Nets, dropping the first game, 112-128, and exacting revenge the next game, 130-115.

The Toronto Raptors assigned Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter, Jamison Battle, and Jonathan Mogbo before the first game of this series. Still, Mogbo did not see time on the floor. For Shead, Walter, and Battle, it’s a rough welcome for them on what it’s like at the G League level. It didn’t help that they faced one of the top teams in pace in Long Island Nets, who shifted several gears in the second half of their first game of the series, while the 905ers got stuck in second gear.

Walter remained with the Raptors 905 for the second game of the series, and the Nets didn’t play Toronto’s own AJ Lawson, who exploded for 37 points against a stacked Raptors 905 team in their last game. However, Tyreke Key stole the show, dropping six trifectas en route to 24 points and nine dimes off the bench, helping the Raptors 905 get a split against the Nets with a win, 130-115.

Despite coming off the bench in one of the games, Kennedy Chandler led the team in scoring with 19.5 points. He also had 8.5 assists to 2.5 giveaways in this series, keeping his turnovers under control. Chandler’s shooting came alive in this series, shooting 55.6% from behind the arc on 4.5 attempts.

Ja’Kobe Walter scored 16.5 points on 13.5 attempts. Still, his perimeter shot hasn’t gone down as expected, shooting a subpar 33.3% on six attempts from behind the arc. However, he’s shown some nifty on-ball and off-ball moves as he found ways to contribute to the cause. Ulrich Chomche looked more and more comfortable as he piled on the minutes under his belt. While he only averaged eight points, he did that on 70% shooting from the field. He also grabbed 7.5 rebounds in this series. Still, more importantly, he’s fouling less, which keeps him on the floor longer, as the team needs his presence in the middle, being a +14.5 on box +/- for this series.

The Raptors 905’s offense is starting to round into form. The team started playing like early NBA D League basketball, where the offense was dominated by the guards with very minimal ball movement and defense. Still, the past few games, especially this series against the Nets, saw the Raptors 905’s offense trending up. Adding the assignees, who have more expertise in coach Darko Rajakovic’s offence, probably helped expedite the team’s understanding of how the offence should look. As of this writing (November 26th), the Raptors 905 jumped from 11th place in assists pre-Nets series to 1st overall with 28.4 assists per game.

Game #6 Final Score: Raptors 905 112, Long Island Nets 128

Assignee(s)

Raptors 905: Jamal Shead (NBA), Ja’Kobe Walter (NBA), Jamison Battle (2W), Ulrich Chomche (2W)

Long Island Nets: Cui Yongxi (2W), Dariq Whitehead (NBA), Jaylen Martin (2W)

Starters

Raptors 905: Tyreke Key, Kennedy Chandler, Charlie Brown Jr., Quincy Guerrier, Ulrich Chomche (2W)

Long Island Nets: Tyson Etienne, Killian Hayes, Kendall Brown, Dariq Whitehead (NBA), AJ Lawson

Despite a heavy-reinforced team, the Raptors 905 got run out of the floor in the second half by the visiting Long Island Nets. AJ Lawson and the Nets hit another gear in the third period. Coach Drew Jones and his Raptors 905 couldn’t hang with the visitors, and the Nets easily put the Raptors 905 away. The Raptors 905 dropped their series opener against the Nets, 112-128.

AJ Lawson and the Nets came out of the gate in fifth gear, but the Raptors 905, reinforced by Shead, Walter, and Battle, kept it close for the first quarter. The 905ers out-executed the Nets throughout the second and early third quarter, leading for the most part, including getting a double-digit lead. However, a 32-6 Nets run, fueled by Lawson’s 16 points during this stretch, gave the Nets a 16-point lead they never relinquished.

Ja’Kobe Walter made his Raptors 905 debut and had a solid 20 points and six boards to lead the 905ers in scoring. Local kid Eugene Omuruyi also debuted for the Raptors 905, dropping 18 points and ten boards off the bench. Jamison Battle shook off a slow start to finish with 15 points and six boards, while Jamal Shead chipped in 11 points and 13 dimes.

Long Island Nets’ AJ Lawson, another Toronto kid, had an electrifying night, leading all scorers with 37 points and seven boards while making five trifectas. Kendall Brown added 21 points, six boards, and five dimes, while former lottery pick Killian Hayes finished with 17, six, and four steals.

Coach Drew Jones summed up how the Raptors 905 lost this game: We let up. We let up. They put their foot on the gas. They became who they are identity-wise in the second half, and we weren’t … we talked about first three steps, sprinting back, containing the ball, so our defense can get set, and we didn’t, or at least, not enough.

The Raptors 905’s hot and cold perimeter shooting proved to be one of their undoing, as a hot 7-for-15 shooting in the first quarter led to them settling on too many perimeter shots, going 5-for-32 the rest of the way. It didn’t help that the Nets caught fire at the right time, shooting 9-for-19 from the perimeter in the second half. Another ongoing theme is how the Raptors 905 are getting outscored on the stripes. They don’t get to the line often, and when they do, they shoot poorly, and tonight, they shot 3-for-8 from the line, resulting in four points. On the flipside, the Nets got to the line 17 times, resulting in 23 points (NBA G League’s got a gimmicky 1 FTA worth 2 points to speed up the pace).

Game #7 Final Score: Raptors 905 130, Long Island Nets 115

Assignee(s)

Raptors 905: Ja’Kobe Walter (NBA), Ulrich Chomche (2W)

Long Island Nets: Cui Yongxi (2W), Dariq Whitehead (NBA), Jaylen Martin (2W)

Starters

Raptors 905: Tyreke Key, Kennedy Chandler, Charlie Brown Jr., Quincy Guerrier, Ulrich Chomche (2W)

Long Island Nets: Tyson Etienne, Killian Hayes, Kendall Brown, Dariq Whitehead (NBA), Jaylen Martin (2W)

Tyreke Key erupted with 24 points off the bench, shooting a nasty 6-for-9 from the perimeter. He also added nine dimes and three steals. Kennedy Chandler got the QB1 spot back and had his most efficient game of the season with 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting, including 4-for-5 from the perimeter. He also added a game-high 12 dimes and three stocks. Ulrich Chomche had a perfect night with 12 points on 5-for-5 from the field, and he didn’t even commit a single foul! Ja’Kobe Walter chipped in 13 points and five boards before getting called up.

With no Lawson on the lineup, Dariq Whitehead took advantage of the opportunity, leading all scorers with 26 points, including six perimeter bombs. Killian Hayes added 12 points, six boards, and five dimes. Mark Armstrong carried the bench for the Nets with his 23 points, six boards, and four dimes.

The Raptors 905 could either win or close the gap on certain team stats that cost them the previous game. While they allowed the Nets to get to the line 13 times, resulting in 16 points, the 905ers got to the line 11 times, netting 14 points. They decisively won the fastbreak-points battle (15-4) and kept the Nets’ pace in check, allowing them 82 attempts compared to 100 in the previous game.

If the previous game was a track meet, the start of the game was more of a shootout with a combined nine three-pointers made. Very minimal defense can be seen aside from the “pick-sixes” now and then, and that’s how the Raptors 905 capitalized early. Still, it was a see-saw battle until the 905’s bench mob got in the game and dropped 17 points in the quarter to build a nine-point lead.

Walter got his first bucket to start the second period. Both team’s defense picked up to start this quarter, with Whitehead and the Nets taking advantage of the situation and getting the lead back, 51-49, behind a 19-11 run. Just when it looked like the Raptors 905 would let go of the rope when things got tough, their defense and Tyreke Key allowed them to wrestle the momentum away from the Nets, closing the half with a 65-56 lead off a nice BLOB to get Walter a layup with 1 second to work with. Tough!

The Raptors 905 started the second half looking lethargic and allowed the Nets to cut their lead into three, but dialled up their effort and defence, punctuated by Chomche’s dunk to build a 10-point lead. The 905ers stretched the lead to 15 and had an answer every time the Nets would get something going until early in the fourth period.

Whitehead tried to get the Nets back into the game, cutting the lead to five early in the final frame. Fortunately for the Raptors 905, Chandler’s back-to-back trifectas doused the Nets’ push. Jaylen Martin, one of the Nets’ Two-Way contract players, injured his right knee midway through the fourth and had to be stretchered off the court. The game resumed, and just when it looked like the Nets would make another push, we had a “Key takeover.” It felt like Key was throwing the ball into the ocean as he made three consecutive trifectas to put the game away.