CLEVELAND — Opening nights bring a mix of doubt, optimism, and uncertainty. That was especially true for the Cleveland Charge on Tuesday.
G League rosters turn over fast. The Charge are no exception. Only five players from last season’s roster are currently on the team. Of that group, only two were available opening night. Riley Minix and Norchad Omier are with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Sean McNeil missed the game with injuries. That left just two returning players for Tuesday’s matchup with the Motor
City Cruise. On top of that, two-way player Ernest Udeh Jr. also wasn’t available due to injury.
This all added up to a 142-122 loss to the Motor City Cruise and a less-than-ideal way to start the season.
It didn’t take long for the Cruise to build their lead. They got out to an early nine-point advantage in the first quarter due to 10 second-chance points and shooting 50% (4-for-6) from three.
In the second, Motor City benefited from 16 points from Dawson Garcia and 12 from John Ukomadu in that frame. This allowed them to stretch their lead from nine to 15 going into the break.
Things further unraveled in the third. Cleveland’s most complete player of the first half, Curtis Jones, didn’t take the court after the break due to an injury. This changed how the Charge could play.
“We run everything smoothly through our three dynamic point guards, and when he’s out, it’s a lot harder,” Charge head coach Eli Kell-Abrams said. “I thought he was fantastic in the first half. He played with the right spirit, passing the ball, taking shots when they came. I thought he was fantastic.”
Jones, who was on a two-way deal with the Denver Nuggets last season, finished the night with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting with five assists and three rebounds in 18 minutes.
Motor City pushed their lead to 28 in the third quarter before, but 17 points from Zack Austin on 5-of-7 shooting from three helped trim the deficit to 22 heading into the final frame.
“He’s been such a shot of life for us,” Kell-Abrams said of Austin. “He’s been fantastic on both ends.”
The Charge cut the deficit to 15 at the start of the fourth, but they weren’t able to cut into any further than that with the Cruise ending the night with a 20-point victory.
Motor City finished with four players with 20 or more points (Brice Williams 28, John Ukomadu 25, Dawson Garcia 20, and Drake Allen 20). Additionally, Motor City seemingly couldn’t miss from three, going 22-for-46 (47.8%) from beyond the arc. Throw in 22 second-chance points, and it’s not difficult to see how this game became as one-sided as it did.
Kell-Abrams has emphasized transition opportunities and reboundings throughout camp. He calls these “bookends” because that’s how you start and end defensive possessions. “We thought if we could control those, we’d have a good shot to win this game.” The Charge didn’t, and paid the price.
Rebounding was indeed an issue. Motor City grabbed 19 offensive rebounds which led to 22 second-chance points.
Austin led the Charge in scoring. He had 27-points on 10-of-23 shooting which included going 7-for-16 from three.
Rashaun Agee was also a bright spot for the Charge. The 6’7” forward provided 26 points on 9-for-17 shooting with 12 rebounds and five assists.
“He kept us together,” Kell-Abrams said of Agree. “His precense steadied us when this could have gotten ugly.”
This game wasn’t exactly how the Charge envisioned their season starting. The defense wasn’t great, and the Charge weren’t able to really make this a competitve game in the second half. Still, there were things to build on here that can be helpful when the team has more of their regulars available.
“You try to see if what you talekd about all preseason has shown through in a way,” Kell-Abrams said. “And for me, I think offensively, 32 assists, the ball was popping. We’re playing completely unselfishly. … Offensively, I see a lot of who we are. And defensively, it’s really tough when you continue to take the ball out of the net, so we can fine tune some stuff on that end. But you know, I think we’re in a good spot, and we’re going to get healthy, and I think that’s a big part of it to.”
The Charge will look to rebound when they take on the Sioux Falls Skyforce on Saturday. Tip-off at Public Autitorium is a 5 PM.
