In the midst of a party, the voice of reason, Ace, from the 2002 crime drama film Paid in Full kills Cam’ron’s buzz, whispering into his ear: “Live and maintain.”
Don’t get too high. Exercise caution, practice prudence when winning was the message Ace tried to convey amid all the fun and booze flowing in the room.
The 905 failed to “live and maintain” in Westchester, less than an hour drive away from Harlem, where the classic film was based.
The 905 were up as much as 20 early in the third quarter, but NBA vet T.J. Warren kept Westchester in the game. He had a fastbreak bucket in the third quarter, gesticulating he was ‘too strong’. It was a harbinger for more to come.
A free throw by Warren put the Knicks within 10 points, but the 905 answered with a 8-0 run of their own as Kennedy Chandler (game total 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting in 24 minutes + game-highest 15 plus/minus) and A.J. Lawson scored.
Westchester’s Chuma Okeke turned the ball over and Charlie Brown Jr. made him pay with a fastbreak dunk, and a missed dunk by Abdullah Ahmed was converted into Dylan Disu’s fastbreak lay-up on the other end. The 905 pushed their lead back up to 18 points with 4:45 left in the third. They were still maintaining.
But Westchester quickly got on a 9-0 run, making three consecutive 3s from Jamal Bey, Alex O’Connell, and Warren (who had hit a triple earlier in the quarter).
The 905 maintained a double-digit lead from 3:14 left in the first half until 2:26 remaining in the third quarter. O’Connell’s triple put Westchester within nine points, and from that point on, the 905 let their lead slip from their hands like grains of sand. They became Ace’s worst nightmare.
The 905 clung to a six-point lead at the start of the fourth. Lots of quid pro quo went on. And in the crucial moments, the 905 fought hard to take the team above clutch time territory. Evan Gilyard had a beautiful paint attack, stepped back, and nailed a nice short-range jumper to make it a four-point game, and then assisted Brown’s much-needed triple, which pushed the lead up to seven points.
The 905, however, forgot to play the final four minutes as Westchester went on 12-2 run to close out the game.
Lawson had a bad offensive possession where he went max speed through a bunch of Westchester Knicks, and tossed up a prayer, hoping for a foul (he relied on the whistle in an earlier play as well). As Coty Wiles referred to in this incredible video essay, Lawson has been 37.3% at the rim on drives. Charlie Brown Jr. too had a similar play earlier in the final frame where he expected the whistle to be his friend.
Gilyard, who is often a steadying presence when the game matters most, ended up making costly mistakes at the end. He threw another pass out of bounds that almost hit the same kid he hit earlier in the fourth quarter. His shot selection to save the game was poor too, as Eugene Omoruyi would have gotten a better look. But the game should never have come down to the wire to begin with.
The best teams rarely let leads slide, and though the 905 were missing Frank Kaminsky, Quincy Guerrier due to Team Canada duties, Jared Rhoden (congrats on the 10-day), and will be without Ulrich Chomche for the rest of the season, they’ll need to quickly adapt in order maintain their playoff position.
More on Lawson
Despite the criticism above, Lawson still led all scorers with 26 points. In the second quarter, he had a nice drive where he played through contact from Abdullah Ahmed. He modified his shot and threw up a high-arching fingeroll, which swished right in. In the fourth, he stampeded the catch and got right to the basket, giving the 905 a five-point lead. He was 4-for-6 from downtown, and started the third quarter with his bread-and-butter corner 3.
Defensively, Lawson used his speed to his advantage. Twice in the second quarter, he blitzed the opposing guard at half-court. Because he’s so fast, he can really sneak up on the offence. His speed was also beneficial when defending players up top. In the third, after a missed Westchester shot, Lawson leaked out and TJ Warren had no chance of catching up to him on a fastbreak lay-up (according to Coty’s video, AJ has been 70.6% at the rim in transition).
Broke Baby Mentality
The Rexdale in Omoruyi’s game was in full force yesterday. The desperation to rise above John Garland, to not limit your shopping to Albion Mall, and the unshakeable resolve that your West Humber or NACI education is more than enough to prepare you for post-secondary. The insatiable hunger. It was all there.
All of Omoruyi’s scoring, except one three-pointer, happened in the paint. Some of his buckets weren’t pretty, but he got the job done. He had 25 points on 11-for-22 shooting, some of them were well-timed cuts and others were clutch plays. In the third, when TJ Warren scored, Omoruyi had an answer by bullying his way inside, pushing Ahmed out the way. In the fourth, he elected to drive instead of shooting the trey ball, and had a finger-roll version of the Jumpman logo.
He did the dirty work, too. In the second, Omoruyi was in the left corner alone, defending two players by himself. His contest was so good that O’Connell airballed the three-point attempt. Most impressively, in the third, when Chandler airballed a triple, Omoruyi was still on the wing. Disu got the offensive board and kicked it out to Brown for the corner triple. Miss. Omoruyi didn’t give up on the play, ripped down the offensive board, and scored in the middle of a Westchester crowd.
Quick note on Gilyard
When the 20-point lead started to wither away down to 12 points, Gilyard tried to take a charge from Ahmed, who’s one foot taller than he is. In a later possession, his strong perimeter D forced Okeke to reverse the ball. As per usual, Gilyard made big plays when needed – an elbow jumper in the second quarter to give the 905 an edge, a big three-pointer to make it a four-point game in the fourth, and then the step-back short-range jumper. Sure, he made some bad plays at the end, but hopefully, his ability to make big plays gets recognized soon. He’s only played in the G League and the Czech NBL, so let’s hope his 905 tape, stats, and references help him build a strong case overseas.
