Charge fall to the Gold, 108-104

Isaiah Mobley and Peyton Watson battled each other in college and for the front page in their high school days! Peyton was chosen last in the first round in last year’s NBA draft, while Isaiah was picked by the Cavs in the second. Wednesday, they battled for the first time in the NBA.

 

The two renewed their UCLA/USC rivalry in this game with both leading their teams. Each rookie had a chance to showcase their skills and leadership.

 

But tonight, Peyton, the UCLA standout, bested his former USC rival, 108-104, in a G League season opener for both teams. Watson led all scorers with 29 points and 9 rebounds. His teammates Grant Golden and Jared Butler chipped in 23 and 24, respectively.

 

Mobley poured in 25 on 14 of 14 shooting, hitting all his threes. Diakite, Mobley’s running mate, had 28 to lead the Charge and Cooper hit 22. 

 

The game started with a Charge charge, thanks to the Tunes Squad tee shirts fans were wearing!

 

First Quarter

It was Tune Squad night in the Wolstein Center as the Charge jumped out to a 32-23 lead at the end of the quarter.

 

Mamadia Diakite and Isaiah Mobley both led the way with nine points. Nate Hinton chipped in 6 points off 2 of 5 shooting from behind the arc. The Charge were 7 of 14 from the arc for 50% as they pushed the flow of the game.

The one area that the Charge needed to tighten up was in the paint. Grand Rapids had 22 of the 23 points in the paint. The Charge could only muster eight.

 

But all in all it was a great way to start the second season after the Showcase Tournament in Las Vegas.

So, what do you say we go for a little spin?🌧#ChargeUp pic.twitter.com/gpYWDz2WbT

— Cleveland Charge (@ChargeCLE) December 29, 2022

 

Second Quarter

But the Grand Rapids Gold kept fighting. At the 4:05 mark, the Charge gave up the lead to the Gold, 39-38, with a three from the corner by Kellan Grady. But as Grand Rapids got hot from outside, they also saw their fouls increase. 

 

With 1:25 left Sharife Cooper hit a three from the corner after Mobley’s attempt was blocked. The ball went right to Cooper who put it up quickly. That was a huge play in the quarter as the Charge was trying to keep their lead.

 

Cooper’s three from the top of the key rimmed out as the buzzer sounded.

 

Highlights from the 2nd

 

The Gold continued to hit their paint shots but also dropped a pair of three pointers. Jared Butler and Grant Golden led the Gold with eight and seven points in the quarter as Grand Rapids outscored the Charge 23-16.

Cooper scored eight of his 10 in the quarter, while his teammates were as cold as the breeze blowing in off Lake Erie last week! For the half, the Charge were 37.2% for the half from the field combined.

 

Third Quarter

As the second half opened, the Charge continued to do two things: one, push the ball up the court and two, miss open shots. The Gold followed the blueprint they were using all game: namely, get the ball in the paint.

put it on a poster🔨#ChargeUp | @_mdiakite pic.twitter.com/JWEUNuItIm

— Cleveland Charge (@ChargeCLE) December 29, 2022

Mamadi Diakite with authority!

Grand Rapids pushed their lead to 77-73 with under two minutes left in the quarter. But then, Charge coach Mike Garrity put Nate Hinton back into the lineup. BOOM!

 

Nate made an impact immediately. Cooper missed a mid range jumper. But Nate responded with a nice follow up to get the Charge to one. Then, as the Gold took the ball over the timeline Hinton stole the ball. He was fouled going up for the dunk and hit his freebie to get the Charge in front, 78-77.

Peyton Watson hit two triples on his way to the leading third quarter scorer with 14 points for the Gold. The Charge were led by Mobley’s 10, Diakite’s 7 and Hinton’s seven. Both teams committed four turnovers as the play was back and forth with four lead changes.

Fourth Quarter

 

What a wild quarter with eleven lead changes and five times the game was tied.

 

At the 7 min mark, a huge slam by Watson was answered with a deep corner three by Cooper. A missed travel call by the officials created a huge chance for the Gold, and they answered with a bunnie by Golden. But Mobley took an entry pass, faked, and put in a layup to keep the Charge in the lead, 92-90.

 

 

Where it went wrong

But three straight turnovers/missed shots by Cleveland led to a 10-2 Gold run. Cleveland played catch up from there.

 

Hinton and Diakite tried to get Cleveland back into the game. Nate took a pass and found Diakite for a big three. But with 1:33 left the Charge still were behind, 103-99.

 

With 49 seconds left, Diakite blocks a Golden attempt that leads to a fast break opportunity for the Charge. But as Cooper went up for the layup, he appeared to be pushed in the back as the ball was swatted away by the Gold.

 

Rushing up the court, Grand Rapids thought they had a blocking foul called on Cooper, but a Charge challenge was successful and the charge was called on the play.

 

As Cooper brought the ball up he raced into the paint but opted to pass off to Hinton instead of taking an uncontested runner. Nate missed the three from the corner with 24 seconds left.

 

And with that miss, the Charge couldn’t make up the deficit.

 

Stats

Gold

Watson 29/9 boards

Golden 23/10

Butler 24/2

 

Charge

Mobley 25/7

Diakite 28/9

Cooper 22/9 assists

 

By Quarters

                 1  2   3   4 Final

Gold       23 23 31 31 108

Charge   32 16 20 26 104