The 905 inched within six points with 2:36 left on the clock, but their 24-point halftime and 20-point end-of-third-quarter deficit was too big to overcome.
To be fair, the 905 didn’t have any two-way or assignment players, while the Mad Ants had all three of their two-way players – Enrique Freeman, Quenton Jackson, and RayJ Dennis – and two assignment players, Johnny Furphy and Jarace Walker.
The 905 struggled tremendously in the first half. The Mad Ants were completely dominant, and a loose whistle made for a chippy start with some shoving that went unnoticed. In the second quarter, the Mad Ants got whatever they wanted offensively en route to a 39-23 finish.
Assignment player Jarace Walker, listed at 6-foot-7, and 6-foot-10 Jahlil Okafor ran a pick-and-roll from the wing, which got Okafor down low. Rhoden came to help, freeing Jackson in the corner. Bang. Walker and Okafor were on the floor together for slightly less than 10 minutes, and combined for 21 points and 18 boards (five offensive).
Walker showed he can do everything en route to a triple-double of 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Jackson split right through Brown and Gilyard with a lightning quick cross and dumped off a pass to Okafor. With A.J. Lawson missing from the game, Jackson’s speed was reminiscent of the Brampton native’s. If you’re curious to know, Lawson had the fastest ¾ sprint at the 2021 combine at 2.98 seconds, and Jackson’s ¾ sprint at the G League Elite Camp was 3.19 seconds.
As the broadcaster mentioned, the second quarter was a grand display of “surgical passing” by the Mad Ants. The most impressive play came when Okafor got down low, and Jackson cut in, but then flashed out to the perimeter. Jackson got the ball, pulled Kaminsky out to the perimeter, drove baseline and swung the ball up to Walker, who was at the top of the arc. Walker pump faked, touched the paint and threw a shovel pass to Okafor. Easyyy money.
The 905 had more success in the second half, winning the third quarter by four points, and gave the Mad Ants a scare in the final 12 minutes. Evan Gilyard’s paint twos, Charlie Brown’s three 3s (he shot 6-for-11 from downtown in the game and had a team-high 26 points) and Jared Rhoden’s anchoring presence all contributed to the fake comeback.
Gilyard is from the Windy City, an American city often compared to Toronto. If Gilyard was a Toronto man, he was getting bare buckets – 15 points to be exact – in the final frame. I’m still not sure if it was Gilyard’s relentless or Indiana’s defence breaking down that let the 5-foot-10 guard score so much inside the paint. Here’s exactly where Gilyard shot from throughout the game.
Indiana was on the precipice of being embarrassed in front of Rick Carlisle and company as they watched from the sidelines. Tom Hankins will have to review how the 905 got so darn close to a comeback.
Rhoden was a consistent anchoring presence whenever the 905 needed him. In the second quarter, he had a strong take, grabbed his own miss and scored to help his team inch within 10 points. In the second half, he had great defensive possessions on Okafor and Walker, forcing the latter to take a tough turnaround jumper.
There were positives in the second half, but the 905 drop six in a row. They’ll need to right the ship quickly in order to get into the playoffs.
