Raptors rookie Jonathan Mogbo has best game in road win over hapless Brooklyn Nets

And then there were three.

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The Raptors, short-handed themselves, overpowered an unrecognizable version of the Brooklyn Nets on the road Sunday, 116-111, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Only a trio of contests remain in Toronto’s rebuilding campaign, one everyone connected with the franchise hope will be a distant memory when things go better next year as they did in this campaign following a bleak 2023-24 that also saw two star players traded.

Part of the promise of 2024-25 was the play of Toronto’s rookies and they were front and centre in this one. Jonathan Mogbo had his first double-double, 17 points, 11 rebounds and added seven assists, missing only one of nine shot attempts, Jamal Shead notched a season high 12 assists, Jamison Battle scored 12 off the bench and Ja’Kobe Walter, probably the most intriguing of the freshman, was impressive early and finished with eight points, five rebounds and a couple of steals.

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The Nets dressed a lineup only NBA diehards would be familiar with. Two, Drew Timme and Reece Beekman, were making their first career starts and Beekman led the team with 14 points.

The Raptors didn’t have Scottie Barnes (hand), Brandon Ingram (ankle), Gradey Dick (knee), Immanuel Quickley or Jakob Poeltl (rest) and started three rookies.

Another rookie, Battle, was the first reserve called into action for Toronto and had a tremendous first half, powering Toronto’s struggling offence. Battle, normally a stand-still three-point shooter, even went coast-to-coast for a tough layup just before the buzzer in the first quarter.

Brooklyn shot only 33% from the field in the first and trailed 28-25.

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Raptors scoring leader RJ Barrett, who played most of his career in nearby Manhattan, started the game just 1-for-7 and also struggled at the free throw line, but it didn’t matter, given how feeble Brooklyn’s talent was compared to Toronto’s.

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Toronto closed the second quarter of an at that point tied game on a 27-11 run, to take a 15-point advantage into the break.

The Raptors kept pummelling the hapless Nets in the third, extending the lead to 23 points, but the home side did manage to creep within single digits (eight) for the first time in the second half late in the quarter before Toronto extended to 82-72 on a Shead jump shot.

Toronto started the season 0-11 on the road and 1-19, but has gone 11-8 since.

Three games remain in the season, including the final home game, vs. Charlotte on Wednesday on fan appreciation night (and boy do the fans deserve to be appreciated for getting through the last two Raptors campaigns). Toronto needs at least one more win to avoid becoming the 10th team in the franchise’s 30 seasons to fail to win 30 games (though three of those were shortened seasons).

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From the fun with numbers department, Miami Heat record since trading Jimmy Butler: 11-19. Golden State record since trading for Butler: 21-7. Lakers record since trading for Luka Doncic: 19-11. Cavaliers record since acquiring De’Andre Hunter: 23-6. The common denominator is the teams with the third, fourth and fifth-most wins since the deadline all made significant acquisitions. By the way, the Raptors record since trading for Brandon Ingram: 13-16 (with Ingram not playing a game). Since March 1, Toronto was tied for 10th in the NBA in wins (before Sunday’s games), while Utah had only one win (and 18 losses since then), Philadelphia just three wins, Charlotte five and Brooklyn four. No wonder Toronto has lost ground over that span in the reverse standings.
@WolstatSun

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