Photo by MattAzevedo.com
Raptors 905 111, Los Angeles D-Fenders 104 | Box Score
Assignees: Bruno Caboclo (905), None (D-Fenders)
It was a clash between the first and second place teams in the NBA D League, but anyone expecting a close game would come away disappointed as the Raptors 905 raced out to to double digit first half lead against the Los Angeles D-Fenders and never looked back.
The baby Raptors balanced scoring attack is led by whoever happens to be open the most as they run through their sets and tonight that was Bruno “4 months from being 1 year away” Caboclo early on. The Raptors young prospect ran the baseline effectively, reading the offense and popping into open spaces for jumpers and nailing 3 three pointers in the opening frame. This outside attack was anchored by Edy Tavares in the middle. Tavares showed early on that the D-Fenders had no one player who could hope to keep him off the glass or top him when he caught the ball around the rim. With Tavares manning the middle on offense and the Raptors 905 long and rangy perimeter defenders the D Fenders struggled to get any kind of consistent offensive momentum, stringing together a few nice pick and roll plays after the Raptors big man sat but struggling to create space and consistently generate open looks.
After using the size of Tavares to anchor the middle in the first quarter the 905 shifted to a smaller but rangier lineup and turned up the pressure. Yannick Moreira, CJ Leslie and Caboclo would spend the quarter using their length and quickness to help and recover and help and recover over and over again. The D-Fenders use a lot of dribble penetration in their offense and the 905 managed to suffocate their ball handlers with their long help defenders, forcing 5 steals in the quarter and using those steals and their defensive rebounds to trigger easy looks in transition. They would extend their 5 point first quarter lead out to a 16 point halftime lead and looked like the game was getting away from the D Fenders.
The D-Fenders have come back from double digit deficits to win 13 times this season so there was no room for complacency even with the 16 point lead and the 905 stuck to their formula. They came out in the 3rd quarter looking to go to Tavares early just like they did in the 1st quarter, using his size advantage over the smaller D-Fenders to get high percentage looks at the rim. The D-Fenders did a good job to battle back and managed to cut the lead to single digits on a couple of occasions in the 3rd quarter but they could never string together enough stops to mount a serious challenge. The 905 offense was just too versatile and the D-Fenders lacked the length necessary to keep the ball from getting inside the defense.
The final frame had the same give and take as the third. The D-Fenders would cut into the only to have the 905 extend it out again, trading buckets until it was too late to mount a serious challenge. This game really showed why the Raptors 905 are a favourite to take this season’s D League title. They were consistent and methodical and managed to dismantle a team without a dominant individual performance. The offense never stalled and had an answer for the various looks thrown at the and the defense never wavered, making the highest ranked offense in the league for every shot they would take. It doesn’t feel hyperbolic to say that this was like watching a D League version of the Spurs and coach Jerry Stackhouse deserves a lot of credit for getting this many guys to buy in to the system in a situation where they could very easily be playing for the kind of numbers that could lead to a call up or a bigger pay day overseas.
The Raptors 905 put up 111 points with 8 of 9 players scoring in double figures. There’s no point in doing a run down of show performed well because it is quite literally everyone who saw the floor. Whether intentional or not this was a statement game: they put up great offensive numbers without a dominant performance from any individual player, held a team that averages 118.9 points per game to a mere 104 and did so without falling behind for even a second. With the playoffs approaching and this being a likely Finals match up the 905 served noticed that they have the depth and versatility to take on the D-Fenders and their multiple all-stars with or without NBA call up Axel Toupane.
Notes
- Bruno Caboclo was solid but not spectacular but continues to show progress in important areas, most notably his ability to read a defense to find open shots off the ball. The kid can shoot and his length would make it easy to be a plus defender, the only thing missing is his understanding of the game so it’s very encouraging to see him show progress there.
- Brady Heslip cooled off but was still finding good shots. A shooter like Heslip is going to have nights like this where he goes 4-15 even with good looksk, the important thing for him is that most of his shots were good ones. Everyone knows that he can make shots, his future as a professional basketball player will be determined by his ability to get shots and even with the defense keying on him he was able to get free for some good looks.
- The 905 are short on home games once they’re back off of this trip, but if you wanted to attend March 13 at the Air Canada Centre, or March 18 and 30 at Hershey Centre, you can go to this link and use the promo code REPUBLIC905 for a discount.
