Original posted on November 8, 2017
On a Wednesday night in Mississauga, the Raptors 905 raised their 2017 NBA D-League Champions banner to the rafters and proceeded to trounce the Long Island Nets 91-65. Loreno Brown led the way with 19 points and in a game where both teams struggle on offence, Bruno Cabcolo's line of 17 points on 7-11 shooting from the field (including 3-3 from deep) was a rarity in the boxscore.
I am trying a new "3on3" format for NBA G-League game recaps this season. The first 3 points focus on what happened during the game "on the court" while the other 3 points focus on everything else going on in the arena, "off the court" if you will. Let's do this.
On the Court
All eyes on me: With everyone watching Toronto Raptors assignees Alfonzo Mckinnie and Caboclo, it was Lorenzo Brown who stole the show early putting up 14 points in the first half. Alas, Brown's production decreased significantly in the second half and he finished with 19 points on 7-20 shooting.
Over/under: During the fourth quarter, some of us on press row were guessing what the over-under should be for the Nets shooting percentage. My guess for the line was 35% and I hope you picked the under as the Nets shot 26.3% from the field and a measly 11.1% from deep (yikes!). Alas the 905 did not fair much better at 38.9% and 33.3%, respectively.
Picking up steam: McKinnie go off to a slow start with only 4 points in the first quarter which was somewhat of a surprise given his NBA D-League track record. However, McKinnie started to look more comfortable as the game progressed, including a nice sequence towards the end of the fourth quarter where he game down with a contest board in traffic and proceed to drill a beautiful looking 3 on the following sequence on offence. With a number of home 905 games in November, it will be interesting to see how his time is divided between the Raptors and the 905.
Off the Court
Boomshakalaka: Shout out to the Raptors 905 PA announcer for dropping the "boomshakalaka" reference twice during the game after a big dunk!
Bling, bling: Jerry Stackhouse was sporting his NBA D-League Champions ring during the postgame interview and it was a looking good. I am guessing this is the last time we see him wearing it but I hope he breaks it out from time to time during the season.
Dual identity: While I will save a more detailed review of the new Nike Raptors 905 uniforms for another post, I have to say that I am happy they have kept the dual logs on the shorts. The Toronto Raptors logo appears on one side of the shorts with the Raptors 905 logo on the other side. Well done Nike as I think this a perfect way to incorporate the link to the "parent club" into the uniform.
"We're the hunters."
Coach Stackhouse responding to a question about whether the 905 would be "the hunted" this season as defending champions
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