LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Jalen Green went out Monday looking to attack as the NBA G League Ignite faced a win-or-go-away in the first round of playoffs, resulting in the 19 -year-old makes his best game of the season.
Unfortunately, the performance was not enough in the end.
Green scored 30 high-scoring points, seven assists and five rebounds to lead the Ignite in the 127-102 loss to the 905 Raptors. He finished the tournament by shooting 11-of-20 from the field. , including 3-of-10 from a 3-point range, in 41 minutes of work.
He scored 20 points on his own in the second half, playing a total of 24 minutes.
“I asked him a couple of times in the second half if he was tired, and he wanted to stay indoors,” said Ignite head coach Brian Shaw. “I think it really showed what it’s all about. Not only did he lead us in scoring, but he played a senior role in helping. He turned the ball over and defended too. He showed why it is sin ghille. Leaving him in there, we were down, but he never gave up. It just showed why he deserves the awards and the hype he gets. ”
The Ignite went into a half-time slump with 13 points, with the final deficit growing to 20 points in the third quarter. Behind Green’s play, Ignite was able to cut the lead back down to 13 points after a buzzer-beating 3-point drill to end the quarter on a 7-0 run.
From there, the Ignite reached within 12 points but ran out of gas as the 905 pulled down the piece. Despite coming up short, Green wanted to give up everything he had in the final game of the season.
“Just an attack. (I just wanted to stay) in offensive mode, ”Green said. “Keep going. He was right there. We got it within 13 points at the end of the third quarter. My way of thinking was to just keep going and do whatever it took. ”
With the loss, the Ignited ended their starting season with an 8-8 record.
The team entered the season with different expectations compared to other teams. Winning and losing were less important, with the development of players like Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix a priority.
The goal of the Ignite is to provide high-profile development opportunities and prepare for the next phase. After all, the team has been largely upgraded to keep these types of players in the United States against playing professionally abroad.
When that is taken into account, the Ignite had a successful season.
“I thought it was a success from start to finish, no matter what this last game,” Shaw said. “Nobody expected us to win a game, let alone make the playoffs. I thought (NBA G League president) Shareef (Abdur-Rahim) and (NBA G League manager) Rod (Strickland) did a great job of putting this team together and putting the old sort proper soldiers to join our young boys. ”
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