The Raptors 905 staved off a late comeback from the Cleveland Charge on Wednesday afternoon and picked up a bounceback 102-96 win at Paramount Fine Foods Centre.
Jared Rhoden led the way with a near triple-double performance, scoring a team-high 21 points to go with 11 rebounds, nine assists and one steal. In the three games since Jonathan Mogbo’s assignment stint ended and Jamison Battle was converted to an NBA deal, the guard has stepped up in a big way, averaging 20.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.7 steals and a block.
Behind him was Eugene Omoruyi, scoring 18 points on seven-of-12 shooting in his return from a one-game absence due to illness. The starting backcourt of A.J. Lawson and Evan Gilyard each chipped in 15 points apiece while Charlie Brown Jr. added 10 in his first game back from a nine-game injury stint. All of which helped the 905 pick up the victory and snap a two-game skid, bringing the junior dinos to 12-6 and sole possession of the No. 2 seed in the East.
Aside from a multitude of strong scoring performances, it was the 905’s defence that did plenty of the heavy lifting. A lackadaisical first half — which included a 34-22 second quarter in favour of the Charge — saw the dinos down by as many as 12 points before trailing 57-48 at the break. Once action resumed in Mississauga, however, the 905 flipped the script as they played their best defensive frame of the season — limiting Cleveland to just 11 points on five-of-21 shooting while allowing just one field goal in the first five minutes of the third.
The 905 especially stifled opportunities from beyond the arc in the second half. After the Charge went 11-of-22 on triples through the first 24 minutes of play, they were held to just one make on their next 17 attempts the rest of the way en route to a fourth consecutive loss.
“You don’t do that if you’re not connected, and two, you don’t do that if you’re not talking,” 905 head coach Drew Jones said post-game reflecting on the team’s impressive defensive effort in the second half. “Those are two staples for us defensively, so, I was really proud of the group.”
Chomche update
It’s no secret that routine is important for athletes. A regimented sleep, practice, workout and warmup schedule often allows the right habits to sink in. So, tipping off at 11 a.m. ET for a school-day game day surrounded by thousands of hollering children is enough to throw off even the most disciplined of folks. But doing that roughly 14 hours after matching up against a former NBA MVP in his barn and then taking an overnight flight back to Mississauga is a gargantuan task unto itself.
Yet, it’s exactly the kind of challenge Ulrich Chomche embraced on Wednesday.
As I rolled into Paramount Fine Foods Centre at 9:45 a.m., there he was, putting up shots like it was any other game. Seemingly ignoring the fact that just a handful of hours ago he was playing his first non-garbage time minutes in the NBA, logging a career-high 12 minutes. In a 106-103 victory for the Raptors, Chomche spent the majority of his time checking fellow Cameroonian Joel Embiid. And while it wasn’t a sterling effort — going scoreless on his two shot attempts with a block, a rebound, two assists and a minus-12 rating — it was a meaningful experience nonetheless.
“This is what pros do,” said Jones when asked what his message to Chomche was before the game. “They wake up early, take care of their bodies, and whether the game was at 11 a.m. or 7:30 p.m., you come back and have the same effort, or something close to it.”
Jones added that not only did he commend Chomche for his effort with the Raptors despite a “tough matchup,” but that he was proud of the youngster’s follow-up performance in Mississauga on Wednesday.
Even while on a minutes restriction, Chomche made the most of his limited playing time. He checked in at the 7:12 mark of the opening frame and by the time sat back down five minutes later, the 19-year-old had slapped a Feron Hunt layup off the backboard, grabbed three offensive rebounds and nailed a push shot from 10 feet out.
Chomche finished with eight points, eight rebounds, two assists, three blocks and a steal to go with a game-high plus-18 rating through 24 minutes of play. Beyond the counting stats, his activity level was off the charts. On defence, he was his usual stout self. Shutting down drives at the basket, comfortably switching out and gobbling up misses around the glass courtesy of sturdy box-outs. On offence, it was fun to see a wider variety of shots. He still relied on doing the dirty work — nabbing four offensive rebounds — and running through the middle in transition, but he looked pretty comfortable trying new things like hunting mismatches in the post, even taking a pair of turnaround hook shots (missing both).
When Chomche sat in the fourth, subsequently ending his double-duty stint, he left the 905 with a 12-point lead. And it didn’t feel like a coincidence that it was after he stepped off the floor that the Charge, well, began their charge back into the game — starting with a layup and transition dunk right at the rim. And with Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri in attendance, I wouldn’t be surprised if it left quite an impression.
Key moment
While the junior dinos did end up victorious in a game they led by as many as 18 points, the win didn’t come without its challenges.
Namely down the stretch of the fourth quarter when sloppiness — like committing five turnovers — helped the Charge gain momentum. Thankfully for the 905, the steady hands of Gilyard calmed things down just enough. First, when Emoni Bates hit Cleveland’s lone triple of the second half and brought his team within nine points, Gilyard swiftly responded by cashing his third triple of the game the very next play.
Fast forward to the final minute of the fourth, and an eight-second violation by Rhoden allowed the Charge to score on the ensuing extra possession, capping off a 9-0 run that cut their deficit to 97-94. And again, Gilyard stepped up to save the day as he carried the ball up the floor, hit his defender with a hesitation move and drove into a stop-and-pop jumper from the left elbow that hit nothing but nylon. That final bucket and a pair of free throws by Gilyard were just enough breathing room for the 905 to pull away with the win.
Up next
Neither team gets much time to dwell on the game as the 905 and Charge run it back on Thursday, wrapping up the second leg of a back-to-back set in Mississauga before heading into the All-Star break.
