L.I. Nets advance to conference finals

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The Long Island Nets (35-16), the NBA G League affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets, defeated the Raptors 905 112-99 in the NBA G League Semifinals at NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum last Friday night.

The win marked the team’s first playoff victory in franchise history, and the Nets advanced to host the Lakeland Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday, April 2, at NYCB LIVE.

Long Island guard Tahjere McCall led the team with 22 points and had five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in 29 minutes. Brooklyn guard/forward Dzanan Musa scored 21 points with eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block in 39 minutes while on assignment with Long Island, while Brooklyn two-way guard/forward Theo Pinson chipped in with 20 points, four rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block in 36 minutes.

The Raptors scored the first five points of the game, before the Nets answered back with a nine-point run. The Nets led by as many as seven points in the first quarter. At the end of one, the Nets led by one, 30-29. Long Island came alive in the second quarter, scoring 37 points in the second period alone while holding the Raptors to just 23 points. Jordan McLaughlin led the team with seven points in the second quarter. Heading into halftime, the Nets led by 13 points, 112-99.

Long Island extended its lead to 21 points early in the third quarter before the Raptors fought back with an 18-4 run to close out the period. Chris Boucher led the comeback for the Raptors with 15 points in the quarter, and after three the Nets led by seven, 86-79.

Quickly following the Raptors’ run to end the third, the Nets started a run of their own. Long Island scored the first 10 points of the final period and eventually soared to a 22-point lead, the team’s largest lead of the game, before closing the game out by 13 points, 112-99.

Raptors center Chris Boucher scored a game-high 33 points with seven rebounds, two assists, a steal and three blocks in 37 minutes. 905 guard Jordan Loyd scored 17 points with six rebounds, six assists, a steal and a block in 34 minutes, while guard Wade Baldwin IV added 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 29 minutes.