Raptors 905 win in Portland, but a little too close for comfort

The 905 had such a big lead, I had lost sight of the score. I looked down and realized they were only up 109-95 in the fourth.

At one point, the 905 had a 34-point lead and the Rip City Remix never had a single lead.

“When March comes around, you don’t want to see Caleb Love,” said Rip City’s commentator Gareth Kwok said as Portland Trail Blazers two-way guard helped his team inch closer and closer.

With 3:28 left, Love completed a four-point play to inch within six points. Then, Alex Reese threw a skip pass to Love on the opposite wing and Love took full advantage of Markelle Fultz’s poor perimeter closeout, drew a foul, hit the free throw, and inched within four. He made a transition lay-up with 2:21 left after Fultz missed a corner 3 to inch within two points. 

The game should never have gotten this close as the 905 established an absolutely dominant 20-point first quarter lead. They stretched that to 27 by the end of the first half, but like an underdog team in March Madness, Rip City nearly pulled an upset against a team that got a a little too comfortable. 

Through the third quarter, Rip City kept chipping away and the 905 got close to frittering away their cushy lead and potentially throwing the game away.

Late in the game, AJ Hoggard and Fultz had two turnovers, but Alijah Martin nullified their mistakes by getting two deflections, resulting in 10- and 12-point leads.

But then there were a few questionable offensive possessions.

With 3:14 left, Fultz was on an island with Yang Hansen, but instead of attacking the big man, he elected to throw a dribble hand-off in the corner. The possession ended in a 3-point look for Tyson Degenhart, but he missed.

Quincy Guerrier, who finished with a team-high 23 points on 8-for-10 shooting (5-for-6 from downtown) was aggressive throughout the game, but there was one exception. In clutch time, he attacked the paint and found himself alone in the paint with Yang. Instead of attacking him, he squeezed a pass to Fultz in the corner, who had hit his first 3 of his 905 stint in the third quarter. Fultz missed and it resulted in Love’s transition bucket to inch within two. 

Luckily, Guerrier gave the 905 the buffer they desperately needed by splashing a clutch 3.
First, Martin tried to attack Yang but there was nothing there, so they threw the ball to the second-side and Tyreke Key attacked. Nope, still nothing there. 

Tyrese Samuel got the ball at the elbow and whipped a pass to Guerrier who had his hands stretched out for the pass in the opposite corner. He was wide open without a Remix player in sight. Boom goes the dynamite. 905 lead by five with less than two minutes left.

And then, Hoggard threw a beautiful pocket pass to Samuel as the two executed a perfect pick-and-roll ending with a two-handed Samuel dunk on Yang. Love drew a foul and hit both free throws on the other end, but Samuel had the biggest offensive board of the game and hit both free throws.

A seven-point buffer with 1:03 was enough to walk away with a W.

Big night for the Canadians 

Guerrier had a 23-point (8-10 shooting and 5-6 from downtown) and 11-rebound double-double performance. He had two blocks as well. He did a good job of attacking and guarding Yang. When Yang missed a wing 3, Guerrier leaked out and dunked in transition. And he also went at him hard and got to the free throw line. 

Samuel had 16 points and six boards. CEBL’s Canadian Player of the Year’s match-up against Yang – a big man the Raptors worked out last summer – was an important data point. Samuel applied pressure on Yang, sometimes a bit too much, and did get bullied down low at times, but it was also a testament to Yang’s agile footwork. Samuel went up against three defenders in the first quarter and drew an and-one. He also showed great footwork to get around Reese in the second quarter.

It was great to see a CEBL import Javonte Cooke play against two Canadians. 

Targeting Yang 

This was a good data point for the Toronto Raptors, too. Yang has great footwork inside (he finished with 17 and 11) but was a liability when stretched to the perimeter or forced to guard guards. Many 905ers destroyed him they were left alone on an island with him. Jarkel Joiner attacked him from the top of the arc and drew a foul. Guerrier easily got in front of him in transition. Martin isoed on him around the pinch post area, and hit him with an in and out, crossover move before scoring on him. 

The post Raptors 905 win in Portland, but a little too close for comfort first appeared on Raptors Republic.