Final Score: Raptors 905 126, Greensboro Swarm 117 | Box Score
Two-Ways: Nate Darling (Swarm), Grant Riller (Swarm)
The last 24 hours were hectic for the Toronto Raptors and its G-League affiliate, Raptors 905.
Early Thursday morning, the Raptors signed Donta Hall to a 10-day contract, going from the G League Ignite to the 905.
Then, news broke that the 905 traded big man Dewan Hernandez to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers for guard Jarron Cumberland.
Before the 905’s game against the Greensboro Swarm Friday night, several Raptors personnel, including Pascal Siakam and Nick Nurse, missed their game against the Houston Rockets due to health and safety protocols.
Despite that, Raptors 905 head coach Patrick Mutombo prepares like he always does, coaching the guys in front of him to compete and play with a selfless mindset. The 905 defeated the Swarm 126-117, improving to 7-3 on the season.
Sitting in third place in the G-League standings, Mutombo credited his players and their toughness, propelling them to this point.
“These players have been tremendous,” said Mutombo on the leadership core of this team. “We talk about our leadership Nik Stauskas, talk about Gary Payton, those guys get them to understand our schemes how we want things to be done. And they’ve just done an incredible job taking ownership of the team.”
***
Stauskas is one of the leadership guys who stepped up for the 905. While he struggled early in the game to find his shot, he ended up leading the 905 in scoring with 27 points, including seven made threes. In the fourth quarter, with the game in hand for the 905, Stauskas showcased his patience shooting the ball. He let the shot clock drain, before taking a pull-up three-pointer.
That's Nik for ya#RoadToTheSix pic.twitter.com/JOtWqRXPv0
— Raptors 905 (@Raptors905) February 27, 2021
Stauskas said after the game it was a bit of a “heat check,” feeling confident from beyond the arc.
“I’ve been a little streaky here throughout the bubble so far,” Stauskas said. “I’ve kind of had my shots fall in waves. So anytime I kind of feel myself getting into one of those zones I just try to be a little more aggressive.”
***
Hall impressed in his first game with the 905, recording 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. Before the game, Hall mentioned his focus on defense, bringing that energy and intensity to that side of the ball. As the game went on Friday, Hall saw his offense grow, evidenced by an emphatic slam dunk in transition, thanks to an Alize Johnson dime.
Damn, Donta! #RoadToTheSix pic.twitter.com/7UBKktBFjo
— Raptors 905 (@Raptors905) February 27, 2021
“From the jump like my first dunk, I felt that,” Hall said. “Like I said that grit, I feel like I’m a part of that.”
Mutombo agrees.
“He’s new to our program but he understands our principles and screens and rolling to the basket and just noticing you’re not trying to do too much and just be such a force defensively. Rim protection is important to us, and just him bringing that element to us is so refreshing.”
While the double-digit win is encouraging, there were moments of sloppiness for the 905. Playing with intensity the full 48 minutes, along with protecting the class, are areas Mutombo wants his team to focus on as the season enters the home stretch.
“Growth and maturity,” Mutombo said. “Great teams know how to take care of business and finish the work we started. These guys worked too hard to get to the point where we were. And all of a sudden, we know we fight for rebounds the same rebounds and we were just making mistakes that do not reflect who we want to be.”
Raptors 905 Notes:
– Breein Tyree suffered a torn ACL and is done for the season. He will remain with the Raptors 905 for the next two weeks.
– Raptors two-way player Jalen Harris remains out with a finger injury.
– Raptors 905 general manager Chad Sanders spoke with the media before Friday’s game. He provided a fantastic insight into what the last 24 hours were like for him making the trade:
“We have some roster changes yesterday with the trade of Jarron for the second-round pick for Dewan. So, that took place in the afternoon and at the same time going through the process of finalizing the deal with Donta and getting things handled on that end so it was a little bit of everything. Meanwhile, we had practice at 5 pm, I think the trade call was at 4 pm. I had just passed Jarron in the hallway, right before the trade call but I couldn’t say anything to him yet because I don’t think he was aware, so definitely, a different situation being in the bubble and life in the bubble.”
– Next Game: Saturday, February 27th vs. Westchester Knicks (3 pm EST).
