905’s stability key as they extend win streak to four against Cruise
The Raptors 905’s newfound stability has helped them find their identity.
That identity: one of the best teams in the G League, owning an 11-4 record for top spot in the Eastern Conference. Their first place-lead grew on Sunday, as the 905 took down the Motor City Cruise 124 to 101 in Detroit for their fourth straight win.
After facing significant roster volatility during the G League’s 16 game Tip-Off Tournament and Showcase schedule, the 905 have found consistency with their personnel in the regular season. They have started the same lineup (Evan Gilyard, A.J. Lawson, Jamison Battle, Jonathan Mogbo, and Frank Kaminsky) for five consecutive games, and have started the same group with Jared Rhoden in Gilyard’s place in another five.
The 905 are coming off a month of January where they posted a 9-3 record, tied-second best in the G League. They led the league in 3-point percentage, ranked second in true shooting percentage and third in assists over this stretch.
Rhoden had the cliche “revenge game” against his former team, coming off the bench and making an immediate impact. First, he canned a wing triple. Next, he made a difficult finish over Cruise big man Tommy Rutherford after Chandler found him on a 45 cut off of a flare screen from Kaminsky. Rhoden later blade cut off another flare screen, this time from Chomche, and got straight to the rim for an easy finish. He hit another triple in the fourth, and later spun in the lane and got a tough isolation look to go against Cruise guard Jordan Wright. Rhoden finished with a team-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor, 3-of-5 from 3, and had a couple nice dimes.
The junior Raptors faced off against ex-905er and Raptor two-way Ron Harper Jr. in this game, who is now on a two-way deal with the Detroit Pistons. In the Cruise’s previous game against the Long Island Nets, Harper broke the Motor City record for most made 3s in a game with an 11-for-18 performance from deep. However, in this game, Harper was kept to a relatively quiet 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
Battle opened the scoring, catching off a flare screen, navigating into the middle of the floor, and sticking a contested mid-range jumper.
Next Lawson made back-to-back layups, the second a full court sprint in transition. Battle then stuck another jumper, this time with a foot on the line.
Lawson used his standout athleticism to run out for a ton of takes in transition, where he almost always either finished or drew free throws. He had 8 quick points as the 905 got out to an early 19-8 lead.
The Toronto-born wing also took a handoff from Frank Kaminsky out of delay action, slashed baseline, and found Battle open in the opposite corner where he caught and cashed.
Lawson finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, but did cool off as the game progressed, going 0-of-5 from distance. He will be representing the 905 at the G League Next Up Game at NBA All-Star Weekend.
The 905’s third two-way, Ulrich Chomche, got in on the action later in the quarter. Kennedy Chandler drove into the lane dumped it off to Chomche who got a push shot to go through contact for an and-1. The seven-footer showed nice touch on a similar push shot after Rhoden found him on a drive in the fourth.
The 905 led by as much as 15 in the second, but the Cruise came storming back fueled by an energetic burst from Lamar Stevens and John Ukomadu. Ukomadu had two steals, a block, and a couple layups, and Stevens scored eight on a 15-4 Cruise run to close out the half, bringing the score to 57-53 for the 905.
Ukomadu, the second player in franchise history to make the Cruise via a local tryout, will also be participating in the G League Slam Dunk contest.
Gilyard opened the second half displaying some touch, hitting an above the break 3 and then getting his defender off his feet with a pump fake before finishing with a long floater in the lane. Next the frenetic young guard lobbed Ulrich Chomche for a dunk.
Yet Cruise guard Daniss Jenkins got red-hot from three, draining his first three attempts from deep in the third, drawing Motor City within one. Jenkins finished 6-of-10 from long range and had 24 points.
Jamison Battle’s scalding shooting streak – 9-for-11 from deep over a two-game span – came to an end in this one. He went an uncharacteristic 1-of-6 from 3. Every one of his shots looked like they were going in, as they always do, but they were always just the slightest bit off, barely spilling out. However, after missing a 3 in the third, the six-foot-seven wing made a savvy basket cut after an offensive rebound for an easy layup. Battle is a shooter, but he still found ways to contribute when the shot wasn’t falling. That’s big.
In the fourth, the Ohio State product pump faked his defender, drove into the lane, and lobbed to Chomche for an unorthodox tip-in off the glass.
Mogbo had a great keeper play in the third quarter, taking it hard to the hoop for free throws. He also finished through contact as the roll man for a converted and-1 and knocked down his lone three-point attempt. Mogbo finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.
To finish the third frame, Eugene Omoruyi hit a buzzer-beating triple off an offensive rebound. He went 2-of-4 from long range in the game, hit all three of his free throws, and finished with 19 points.
In the fourth quarter, the 905 pulled away, largely due to Rhoden’s excellence and a great stretch from Chomche. The Cameroonian Rookie had two emphatic blocks and three nice finishes around the basket, including a one-handed throw down on a lob from Gilyard out of a pick n’ roll. He finished with 13 points on a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, and added three blocks. It is the second straight game Chomche has scored in double digits, and both his instincts and physical ability to stuff attempts at the rim when coming over from the weak side as a helper remain tremendous.
The 905 play on Tuesday at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana against the Mad Ants, before coming home to face the Osceola Magic on Friday.
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