Photo by MattAzevedo.com
Raptors 905 (29-9) def. Northern Arizona Suns (18-19); 102-97 | Box Score
Assignees: Bruno Caboclo (905).
Will Sheehey and Yanick Moreira combined for a supremely efficient night to lead the Raptors 905 to a 102-97 victory over the Northern Arizona Suns.
The pair combined to shoot 13-of-17 from the field for 31 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists in just 40 minutes of action. After easing his way back into some minutes on Monday after missing a few weeks with a hamstring injury, Sheehey looked like he hadn’t missed a beat tonight.
If there’s one thing the 905 have learned to do over the course of this season under the tutelage of Jerry Stackhouse, it’s how to close out games. Trailing by seven points to start the third quarter, the 905 put together a 9-2 run early to erase that deficit, before taking control and putting away the Suns late. Sheehey made a clutch three in the fourth quarter that extended the 905 lead to seven with 2:24 to play, and Stackhouse will be happy to have more shooting options at his disposal. Then, protecting a 97-93 lead with 1:34 remaining, Edy Tavares made the biggest play of the game with a huge swat on an Elijah Millsap layup after he spun around CJ Leslie. It was Tavares’ fifth block of the game, and despite Moreira’s big night, it made complete sense for Stackhouse to turn to his All-Star late.
Coach Stackhouse then ran an impressive ATO play with 40 seconds remaining. Sheehey inbounded the ball from the left, with E.J. Singler coming off a curl. Sheehey quickly used a pin down screen on the left baseline to cut to the basket and Singler found him for a wide open lay-in to put the game to bed.
Leslie has been playing bully ball at its finest over the past couple of weeks, averaging 21 points and nine rebounds over his past four games. He started off in similar fashion tonight with seven points in the first quarter, but wasn’t as productive on the final stat line, finishing with 11 points, six rebounds, and four assists. The attention he drew was crucial though, and his impact was just as significant as the big games he’s had before this.
Brady Heslip was scoreless in the first quarter, and was forced to check out early with two fouls in his first five minutes. The team didn’t miss a beat though, as Singler and Leslie provided the offensive spark. After a tough night from the field on Monday where he shot 4-for-16, Singler came out on fire tonight with eight points on a perfect 3-for-3, including two sweet triples coming off elbow curls.
The Suns completely turned the tide in the second quarter, outscoring the 905 by 16 to take a seven-point lead into the break. Xavier Silas (no relation to Paul Silas) and Michael Bryson found space repeatedly both in transition and in the half-court, and had eight triples combined on 11 attempts at halftime. Silas ended the game with 26 points, with all 13 of his field-goal attempts coming from behind the arc. He made six of them.
The third quarter got off to a great start for the 905, with Heslip and Bruno Caboclo knocking down back-to-back triples to cut the deficit to three. After the Suns lead ballooned back up to nine, a total team effort sparked an 11-1 run to give the 905 a one-point lead. Bruno drove in for a layup, Wiggins finished a feed from Singler, Heslip hit from downtown yet again, Leslie finished a feed from Moreira this time, before Leslie returned the favour to Moreira for a dunk.
All that work was undone at the close of the quarter though, as Northern Arizona went on a 9-2 run to end the third quarter with the same lead they had at the half.
The 905 and the Suns came into tonight’s contest as the second and third-best teams in defensive rating respectively; the good guys at 100.3 and the Suns at 100.7. The Oklahoma City Blue are first in this category at 99.2. What’s interesting is how differently they go about doing so. The 905 are second-last in opponent three-point percentage, but the Suns are first. In addition, the Suns are also first in three-point attempts allowed, while the 905 are 25th. Stackhouse’s mantra of “No Middle!” has reaped dividends in its own way, but this may be a chink in the armour that they’ll need to wary of in the playoffs.
Notes:
- Can’t say enough about how much Moreira has improved his offensive game. He had a couple of post-ups where he finished with ease and looked so much more comfortable catching the ball a bit further out than he’d like compared to early on in the season. 13 points and 10 boards is fine day’s work for just 19 minutes.
- Ending a streak of excellent performances, John Jordan shot just 1-for-8 from the field tonight and struggled to impact to the same degree he has of late. He did add five rebounds and four assists though.
- Both teams were a disaster at the free-throw line tonight. The 905 shot 14-for-28 and the Suns went 20-of-34.
- The 905 continue their West Coast road trip on Friday Mar. 3 at 10:00pm EST against the Reno Bighorns.
