Originally posted February 25, 2020
I exited a sunny Toronto afternoon and entered the Air Canada Centre to watch the Raptors 905 respond from a heartbreaking 110-107 loss to the Westcheser Knicks with a somewhat bizarre 129 to 119 win over the Wisconsin Herd. A say bizarre because two the half were like ground hog day.
The first half was high scoring with the 905 lead soaring over 20 points before the Herd made a push late in the second quarter to close the gap to single digits. The 905 responded and finished the first half with a 70-57 lead. Alfonzo McKinnie led the way with 18 points on 6-9 shooting.
The second half was more of the same, with the 905 keeping leading by over 20 points and the Herd making a run late in the fourth quarter, behind a flurry of 3s by Brandon Jennings, to close within 4 points with 1:30 to play. Ultimately, the 905 held on and won by double digits.
Alfonzo McKinnie (27 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists) and Kennedy Meeks (23 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists) paced the 905.
Following the Spurs in the 6 "3on3" format for NBA G-League game recaps this season, here's my take on what happened both "on the court" and "off the court" (with a bonus video of a nice McKinnie dunk).
On the court
Misfire: If Jennings is looking at making his way back to the NBA he has some work to do. Jennings finished with 29 points but was a team worst -16 and shot 8-24 from the field. Although his three point explosion late in the fourth quarter pulled the Herd back into the game, Jennings is going to have to shot at a much better clip if he is going to get another shot in the NBA.
Happy New Year: Negus Webster-Chan, and his Canadian/Chinese heritage, was given some run and he made the most of it. He finished with 11 points in a shade under 18 minutes on 4-6 shooting (including 3-5 from three) and was a +11.
Home sweet home: Out of all the Raptors 905 players, McKinnie looked the most comfortable on the court today and it would be nice if this could translate to some late season run with the Raptors (although, this is admittedly very unlikely).
Off the court
Watch your head: Between the third and the fourth quarter there was a "parachute drop" with stuffed Raptors dogs to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The Toronto Raptors handed out the same stuff dogs on Friday so props to the 905 for going with the big league giveaway.
North alumni: Speaking of giveaways, during the first half the 905 gave away Nike Toronto Raptors City Edition jerseys of former Raptors 905 players - now that is a nice touch!
Short of the record: Previous Raptors 905 games at the Air Canada Centre have set D-League (as it was at the time) attendance records, due in part to the bus loads of children that appear with games that are scheduled over March break or the Christmas holidays. The announced attendance for the game was 9,147 (the actual bums in seats looked to be a lot less) which was more than respectable for a late Sunday afternoon tip-off during the end of February.
There was joking a little bit in the beginning and saying this is the shorts I wore when I played as I guess they were a little bit shorter than they normal are on the regular uniforms.
Coach Stackhouse on Raptors 905 Chinese New Year Uniforms
Comments