The Delaware Blue Coats lost their 2024-25 season opener 116-115 to the Raptors 905 in a last-second thriller at the Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington. In a back-and-forth bout, unlikely hero Tyreke Key stole the moment and the win away from the home team.
The onus for the Blue Coats out of the gate was to attack downhill. That effort was spearheaded by Justin Edwards, who finished in heavy traffic for an and-one for the first bucket of the season. Philly-area native was not finished there, converting multiple times at the cup using his speed and athleticism.
Asked about that approach after the game, Edwards joked, “I just think I’m strong.” With a more serious tone, he said, “I work on a lot of stuff, and that is just one of the things that I work on, being able to create baskets in open space.”
Three-time NBA Champion Patrick McCaw was first off the bench for the Blue Coats, helping to spark the offense with a couple of early 3s and timely off-ball cutting. They needed all of it too, as McCaw also committed three first-quarter turnovers that allowed Raptors 905 to keep the game close early.
The second quarter went pretty poorly for the home team. Marcus Bagley and Isaiah Mobley (brother of Cleveland Cavaliers star Evan Mobley) were continuously gashed on the interior defensively, which allowed Raptors 905 to claw to their first real lead of the game. Raptors 905 big man Branden Carlson provided really good minutes for them on both ends of the floor, protecting the rim and stretching the Blue Coats’ defense out to the perimeter. That is when they really started to take it to the home team.
Poor passes in transition. Losing sight of off-ball cutters to the rim. Untimely and unnecessary fouls. The Raptors 905 took advantage of everything the Blue Coats were willing to give them, scoring 24 points in the paint and 11 fast break points in the quarter. The Raptors 905 would ultimately outscore the Blue Coats by 17 points in the second quarter and command a double-digit halftime lead.
It could have been much worse if not for the contributions of Judah Mintz, who was everywhere in the first half. With multiple highlight reel passes that led to buckets, Mintz played heady defense at the point-of-attack and was commanding consistent defensive attention despite shooting poorly. The box score plus-minus was not so kind to him, but the eye test told a completely different story.
The start of the second half brought a new set of challenges to the Blue Coats. Their offensive process was much better to begin the third quarter, not pressing for their shots and taking it possession-by-possession. The issue is those shots were not going in, and neither were their follow-ups.
Delaware failed to cash in on numerous second-chance opportunities in the period, which allowed the Raptors 905 to maintain a comfortable lead late into the quarter. The Blue Coats wound up shooting just 40.7 percent on those second-chance looks for the evening.
Branden Carlson continued his impressive play after the half. The 7-footer was unafraid to take and make threes, and he and fellow center Ulrich Chomche were cleaning up everything that came their way at the rim. The same cannot be said about quite literally every big man who saw the court for the Blue Coats tonight. During the entire game, they constantly struggled with positioning and getting beat down low.
The tenor of the game changed when Patrick McCaw checked in for his first shift of the second half. Suddenly, someone not named Justin Edwards and Judah Mintz had a pulse. McCaw relied on his experience to put himself and his team in advantageous situations to be able to claw back. He was a steady figure in the passing lanes and very composed in transition, leading to basket after basket as the clock ticked down in the third. The Blue Coats outscored the Raptors 905 by 14 points in McCaw’s third-quarter minutes, and the team scored 38 points in the quarter to bring the game to a tie entering the final frame.
The intensity level throughout the entire fourth quarter was palpable. Neither team was interested in losing their opening night affair. Both teams took their turns trading buckets down the stretch, engaging in a tit-for-tat battle that went all the way down to the wire.
Tied at 108 with just over two minutes to play, Patrick McCaw checked back in for the Blue Coats, and he had saved a little bit of his magic and a little bit of his mayhem for the biggest moment of the game. He drilled his third 3-pointer of the night to put the Blue Coats up 1 with just under a minute to play. After the Raptors 905 tied it back up at the line, McCaw then proceeded to miss a point-blank layup that would have given the Blue Coats the lead with under 30 seconds to play.
Justin Edwards, the best player all night, was ready to rise to the occasion and send the fans home happy. He posited two free throws after he drew a foul on what seemed like his hundredth authoritative drive of the game to give the Blue Coats the lead with mere seconds to go.
Then Tyreke Key happened.
Key, who had largely been a non-factor all night, took a contested catch-and-shoot three and drained it with just 0.2 seconds on the clock. Ballgame. Toronto Raptors 905 win. Heartbreak. Even in a small, uncrowded venue, you could feel the air being sucked out of the room.
But still, it is just one game. Asked how difficult it is to bounce back after this kind of loss, head coach Mike Longabardi said, “We just started the season. It’s a great experience. Judah, Justin, even (Jordan) Tucker. The G is a fast-paced league. It’s get up-and-down. You have to continue to play the next play, it’s really really important. We will use this as a learning experience.”
