LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jalen Green set out on Monday looking to attack as the NBA G League Ignite faced a win-or-go-home in the first round of playoffs, and it resulted in the 19-year-old producing his best game of the season.
Unfortunately, the performance was not enough in the end.
Green scored a season-high 30 points, seven assists and five rebounds to lead the Ignite in the 127-102 loss to the Raptors 905. He finished the contest by shooting 11-of-20 from the field, including 3-of-10 from 3-point range, in 41 minutes of work.
He scored 20 points alone in the second half, playing all 24 minutes.
“I asked him a couple of times in the second half if he was tired, and he wanted to stay in,” Ignite head coach Brian Shaw said. “I think he really showed what he is all about. Not only did he lead us in scoring, but he also had his career-high in assists. He rebounded the ball and defended as well. He showed why he is that guy. Leaving him in there, we were down, but he never gave up. He just demonstrated why he is worthy of all the accolades and hype that he gets.”
The Ignite entered halftime trailing by 13 points, with the deficit eventually growing to 20 points in the third quarter. Behind the play of Green, the Ignite were able to cut the lead back down to 13 points after he drilled a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the quarter on a 7-0 run.
From there, the Ignite got to within 12 points but ran out of gas as the 905 pulled away down the stretch. Despite coming up short, Green wanted to give it everything he had in what became the final game of the season.
“Just attack. (I just wanted to) stay in attack mode,” Green said. “Just keep going. It was right there. We got it to within 13 points at the end of the third quarter. My mindset was just to keep it going and do whatever it takes.”
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With the loss, the Ignited finished their inaugural season with an 8-8 record.
The team entered the season with different expectations compared to other teams. Wins and losses weren’t necessarily as important, with the development of players like Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix the top priority.
The objective of the Ignite is to provide an opportunity for high-profile prospects to develop and prepare for the next level. After all, the team was essentially revamped in order to keep those types of players in the United States versus playing professionally abroad.
When that is taken into account, the Ignite had a successful season.
“I thought it was a success from beginning to end, regardless of 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 adding the right kind of veterans to go along with our young guys.”
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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