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Rally falls short for Raptors 905 in first loss

A late surge made the Sky Hawks sweat, but ultimately the 905 dropped to 1-1.

Raptors 905 (1-1) nearly pulled off a 16-point comeback against the College Park Sky Hawks (2-0) on Monday, but the rallying effort eventually ran out of steam as they fell 122-117 for the team’s first loss of the season.

The Mississauga squad entered the fourth quarter trailing by 10 but a slick feed from Brendan Carlson to DJ Carton on a back-cut, with two minutes to go, resulting in a dunk that knotted things at 115.

Carlson was instrumental in chipping away at the deficit, scoring 14 of 20 points in the second half, drilling 4-of-7 threes and grabbing eight rebounds. His aggressiveness on both ends of the floor continues to stand out for the G League squad.

Meanwhile, Carton finished just shy of a triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists. The lead guard worked a nice two-man game with Carlson, especially in crunch time, while routinely setting the table for others. Carton is fourth in the G League through two games, averaging nine dimes a game.

Prior to their late-game heroics, the 905 started relatively slow, especially on defence. A 9-0 and 10-2 run through the first 20 minutes equalled a 68-54 halftime deficit and it didn’t help that the Sky Hawks drilled 13 threes (plus-6) on a 54 per cent clip through the half.

The 14-point gap wasn’t for a lack of effort from Quincey Guerrier, however, as the Montreal native scored 11 of his 23 points before the break, including a thundering and-one dunk that cut the lead down to single digits midway through the second. He finished 10-of-12 from the field while grabbing eight rebounds.

Guerrier didn’t stop there either as he and Kennedy Chandler — who scored a team-high 25 points for a second game in a row — splashed back-to-back threes to open the fourth quarter and bring the Raptors to within four. The 3-point production didn’t stop there as Tyreke Key, the 905’s season-opening hero, drilled a clutch triple before Carton’s dunk tied things up.

Key moment

Carton curled off a Carlson screen with less than a minute to go, got a paint touch and threw a jump pass to Charlie Brown Jr. — who was inserted into the starting lineup for his season debut in place of Dylan Disu — for an opportunity to give the 905 its first lead of the ball game.

Brown’s corner 3-point attempt rattled out, his final miss on a 2-of-8 shooting night.

On the ensuing Sky Hawks’ possession, Jarkel Joiner nailed his fifth triple of the ball game to put the opposition ahead by three en route to victory. And while the 905 limited College Park’s perimeter production to just five threes in the second half, three of those long balls came in the fourth, ultimately shutting down the comeback effort.

Key stat

In a game decided by five points, it’s hard not to circle a lackluster 11-for-20 night from the charity stripe as a contributing factor.

A good G League program builds synchronicity with its NBA counterpart, running the same actions and deploying similar philosophies. But nine missed free throws akin to an effort by the NBA Raptors, who are 26th in free throw percentage, is not a habit the 905 should try and mimic.

Ulrich Chomche update

Similar to the 905’s season-opener, the 18-year-old was limited to spot shifts, filling in for Carlson as the back up centre. Chomche finished with two points, four rebounds and three fouls in 14 minutes of action.

His instincts and activity on the defensive end are evident, even through a limited sample, but it’s also clear the organization is in no rush to develop Chomche’s game. His role is limited on both ends of the floor right now, and that’s not much of a surprise considering he’s the youngest player in the NBA.

Expect more of the same as he gets used to NBA-type speed and I recommend demonstrating patience while watching the Cameroonian two-way in his first G League season.

Up next

The 905 stay in the Peach Tree state to once again take on the Sky Hawks on Wednesday, hoping to put an end to College Park’s 5-0 record against them through the last two seasons.