In a game that felt more like a late-season playoff tune-up than a mid-winter G League battle, Raptors 905 pulled off a dramatic 125-124 win over the Grand Rapids Gold - and it took just about everything they had to get there.
Let’s start with the turning point. Early in the second quarter, Raptors 905 guard A.J.
Lawson got caught on a sideline out-of-bounds (SLOB) screen. David Roddy switched onto the ball handler and contested the shot, but the officials didn’t like the contact - calling a flagrant foul that had head coach Drew Jones fuming.
Jones lit into Lawson from the sideline: “AJ, wake up! You gotta handle that!”
Lawson’s body language said it all - a mix of frustration and embarrassment, like a player who knew he’d let a detail slip.
But credit to Lawson - he responded.
In the third quarter, he jumped a passing lane, picked off a pass, and went coast-to-coast for a dunk. Then, after AJ Hoggard stripped James Akinjo clean, Lawson finished the break with a layup to tie the game at 123. It was a full-circle moment that showed his ability to bounce back - and fast.
That resilience would be tested again, though. With just seconds remaining, Lawson fouled Akinjo on the other end.
It looked like the 905’s furious comeback might be undone at the free throw line. Akinjo missed the first, made the second, and gave Grand Rapids a one-point lead.
Timeout, 905.
Out of the break, the 905 drew up a gutsy lob play for Olivier Sarr, who got fouled on the attempt. Sarr - not known for his free throw prowess - stepped to the line in a dead-silent arena and calmly knocked down both. Raptors 905 by one.
Now it was Grand Rapids’ turn. With the clock winding down, Akinjo made a slick move to shake Alijah Martin and got a clean look from deep - but the shot clanged off the rim. Raptors 905 survived.
The box score tells a story of balance. Lawson and Martin, both on two-way contracts, finished with 18 points apiece.
Assignment player Jonathan Mogbo chipped in 11. But this wasn’t a game where the stars ran wild.
It was a grind - a game full of fouls, timeouts, and tactical adjustments. At times, it felt like a chess match more than a basketball game.
The biggest piece on the board? Moses Brown.
The 7-foot-2 big man, with 163 NBA games under his belt, was a problem all night. The 905 had no answer for him.
He scored effortlessly over Mogbo and Julian Reese, going a perfect 7-for-7 in the second quarter alone and finishing with 37 points on 16-of-21 shooting. At one point in the second quarter, the 905 trailed by as many as 15.
But they chipped away.
Martin hit two big threes in the third quarter to help close the gap, including one that cut the lead to just three. In the fourth, he poured in 10 more - including a clutch three to bring the 905 within one and an and-one to tie it up. His shot-making was timely, and his confidence never wavered.
Mogbo had his own moment in the third. With the shot clock winding down, he bailed out Jarkel Joiner with a triple. Later, he came up with a key block on a three-point attempt - channeling his inner Chris Boucher - that led to points on the other end.
Joiner might not have filled up the stat sheet, but his energy was undeniable. In the second quarter, he forced a miss that led to a Roddy triple and a Gold timeout.
Later, he hounded Coleman Hawkins into a turnover, then pushed the pace for an easy two. His defensive pressure in the backcourt was relentless, and it gave the 905 a jolt when they needed it most.
Roddy was the offensive engine. He led all 905 scorers with 26 points on an ultra-efficient 9-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-6 from deep.
He hit two massive threes in the fourth - one off a beautiful swing sequence that started with Martin snaking off a Sarr screen and ended with Roddy splashing a corner triple to cut the lead to six. Moments later, he knocked down another to bring the 905 within two.
He even had a put-back that gave the 905 a brief lead. And here’s the kicker - head coach Drew Jones didn’t call a single play for him.
“26 points, right?” Jones said postgame.
“I didn’t call one play for D. Rod.”
That’s a coach tipping his cap to a player who knows how to star in his role.
And then there’s Hoggard. He finished with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting and made arguably the biggest defensive play of the night - the late-game steal that set up Lawson’s game-tying layup.
Hoggard’s transition game continues to be a strength. In the second quarter, he pushed the pace for a score, then changed gears and found Sarr inside for an easy bucket.
Coach Jones summed it up best: “We all know what Hoggard can do offensively, but defensively, can he draw that line in the sand for us? And he did that today.”
This wasn’t the cleanest win. It wasn’t the most dominant. But it was gritty, it was resilient, and it showed that this 905 squad - even when outmatched by size or caught in foul trouble - has the ability to dig deep, respond to adversity, and find a way.
That’s the kind of stuff that travels - and the kind of stuff that wins when it matters most.