The Raptors 905 are aiming to reclaim their former glory. Once the class of the G League – making the playoffs in five-of-six seasons from 2017-22, including a championship in 2017 – the 905 have struggled in recent seasons. They now have an opportunity to make noise for the first time in four years.
It starts Tuesday against the Motor City Cruise – the team that finished directly behind the 905 in the standings – with a one-and-done Round 1 matchup. The two squads basically already had a playoff game a couple weeks ago. The 905’s head coach, Drew Jones, said they prepared for it like one, and it showed in a game rife with physicality, hard fouls, defensive intentionality and offensive nail-driving.
The slugfest came down to the thinnest of margins and ended on a game-winning drive and layup by Markelle Fultz, prompting Jones to say: “Big time players make big time plays.”
Well, I would be remiss not mention off the top that the 905 may be without a couple big time players. Their top two scorers, and G League all-star game representatives, AJ Lawson and Alijah Martin, were both not included as being with the G League team on the Toronto Raptors’ injury report Monday. This indicates that they’ll be in Detroit to play Motor City’s parent club, the Pistons, instead.
Availibility
It goes without saying that the absence of Lawson and Martin would be a staggering hit to the 905’s chances. Both have been instrumental to the team’s identity this season. Yet they were also both involved in an NBA-record-setting 31-0 run against the Orlando Magic on Sunday. Considering the Raptors’ growing injury report and the pair’s punchy play of late it’s understandable that they’re in the mix for minutes with the big club, but also unfortunate for the 905’s playoff aspirations. It’s not set in stone yet, but as of now they won’t be available. We’ll have an update if anything changes.
In the most recent game against Motor City, Lawson was one of the aforementioned hammers reliably sinking those offensive nails. The other was Trayce Jackson-Davis, who will be available after being assigned to the 905 Monday. He’s been dominant in his two G League appearances, averaging 27 points 10 boards and four stocks as the 905 have force fed him paint touches and his athleticism has played up.
Aside from Lawson, Martin, and the 905’s other two-way player, Chucky Hepburn, who’s out for the season, everyone else should be available barring any late updates.
The Pistons, meanwhile, are yet to submit their injury report, so the status of two-ways Tolu Smith Wendell Moore Jr. and Isaac Jones, along with frequent assignee Chaz Lanier, is still up in the air. Moore Jr. sat with right knee injury management in Motor City’s final game of the regular season and was available for the Piston’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, but did not play.
How the teams match up
When I’ve referenced G League stats throughout this season, I’ve always used the Tip-Off Tournament combined with the regular season because why not, that’s all the games they’ve played, right?
But in this instance I’m going to just use the regular season instead. G League teams can change so much over the course of the season that some are practically unrecognizable now compared to during the opening showcase.
So the 905 finished 12th in offensive rating (116), third in defensive rating (110.1) and tied-third in net rating (plus-5.9). Alternatively, the Cruise are eighth in O-rating (117.2), seventh in D-rating (112.5) and seventh in net (plus-4.7).
The 905’s identity is no secret. They’ve placed a heavy emphasis on aggressive defensive principles and making hay while the sun is shining with easy transition scoring. It’s what led them to a record 16-0 start and the best defensive rating in the G by a mile over that stretch.
In their last game against the Cruise, they were also able to effectively win the fastbreak differential, scoring 23 points on the break to Motor City’s eight. This gamification of transition play is yet another way the 905 are synced up with the NBA Raptors.
They’re also aligned in the systems they run, including many of the offensive sets, which I covered here. And while the 905 were able to get out running against Motor City in their previous meeting, they did run more scripted offence when play slowed down in the halfcourt, to my eye. This included 77 skip, a Horns Ghost Flare they call Horns 2, a weird 1-4 high configuration with two Iverson cuts and a bunch of Spain pick n’ roll. While it’s fallen out of vogue in the NBA, the Spain actions were the main thing that worked for the 905 in this regard, generating a few open 3s. Until the Cruise show they can guard it, they should spam away.
The 905 and Raptors are really committed to the organizational connectedness thing. Not only are both near the league lead in opponent’s turnover percentage and transition scoring, they also both have sky high assist rates and rely more on ball movement than creation off the bounce to generate advantages. One difference is that the 905 hit 3s, ranking ninth in the G League at 37.2 percent.
Motor City profiles as a good matchup for the 905, as they rank bottom five in both turnovers and opponents’ transition scoring. It makes sense then that the 905 beat Motor City in both regular season matchups, also winning the possession battle via more offensive rebounds and a plus-turnover margin both times.
Projected lineups
Raptors 905
PG: AJ Hoggard
SG: Jarkel Joiner
SF: Tyreke Key
PF: Tyson Degenhart
C: Trayce Jackson-Davis
Motor City Cruise
PG: Drew Peterson
SG: Brice Williams
SF: John Ukomadu
PF: Bobi Klintman
C: Isaac Jones
The 905’s path to winning
The 905 have three primary keys to winning this game. First win the possession battle the way they have in recent games and in the season series vs. the Cruise.
They also must stick to their guns. Maintaining their usual level of ball pressure without Martin and Lawson at the point of attack will be difficult. But if Jarkel Joiner, AJ Hoggard and Tyreke Key can uphold their principles and provide a facsimile, and the rotations behind them can stay as focused, intentional and connected as they’ve been, that will be step one. Step two is using the stops and steals that will create to run like mad and take advantage of every easy bucket they can. Quincy Guerrier, Tyson Degenhart and the big men – Tyrese Samuel and TJD – will be big as finishers here. Although both Key and Joiner have shown strong transition finishing chops, too.
Last is containing Isaac Jones. Drew Jones called him a “monster” on a couple occasions and that could be understating it. He scored 37 in the team’s last meeting and we all saw him ruin the Raptors’ hopes at a Summer League chip. A herculean effort from Jackson-Davis, Samuel and likely additional help defenders will be needed to slow Jones’s roll. The Cruise are a middling shooting team, so working to wall off the paint and force them to shoot over the top could be a recipe for success – shooting variance be damned.
