Next Stop, The Ticket: Raptors Uprising GC concludes 5v5 Seed Weeks with defeat to Wizards District Gaming

A strong showing in the first three quarters was unfortunately not enough for Raptors Uprising GC, as Wizards District Gaming took control in the fourth to seal a 71-67 win in Toronto’s final game of 5v5 Seed Weeks.

Toronto was playing for pride, with FantaSZN and co. having already been eliminated from the playoff picture ahead of this one. Now, Raptors Uprising will head to The Ticket after finishing Seed Weeks with a 1-4 record.

Friday’s game marked Toronto’s fourth straight defeat. Ahead of 3v3 Seed Weeks and The Ticket, the squad will have their sights set on bouncing back and ending the season on a high.

Plondo started the game at power forward, while Type was moved to centre, a role which he had yet to play so far this season.

A strong first quarter saw Raptors Uprising finish level at 17-17, highlighting that in spite of having nothing to play for with regards to playoffs, Toronto was still hungry for victory.

The second quarter was tightly contested too, with both teams putting up 19 points to end the first half at 36-36.

Toronto then took the lead at the end of the third, narrowly going up by one point at 56-55.

While most viewers would’ve expected another close quarter, Toronto was only able to put up 11 points during the final six minutes of play, as the Wizards wrapped up a four-point victory over Toronto.

In his first 5v5 game at centre in 2022, Type put up a team high 20 points, with Fanta, Kenny Got Work and Plondo also in double digits with 17, 14 and 11, respectively.

Type also led the way in rebounds with eight, while Fanta was the team’s assist leader with seven.

Following the game, Plondo expressed his emotions after the end of 5v5 Seed Weeks.

“Last 5v5 game, not an easy one going up against the defending champs. We had a gameplan going in and I feel like we executed for the most part, but they were more locked in after the third quarter.”

Plondo then spoke on playing at power forward and what influenced that positional change.

“We just wanted to try and change things up going into The Ticket.”
“It’s our last real game for a couple weeks and we’ve only been playing this for a couple of days. I’m sure if we stick with this lineup then we can perfect it a little bit more.”

Toronto’s 5v5 fate was already decided before tipoff, but Plondo described how important it was to still come into the game with a winning mentality.

“You always want to win every game. Everyone here is competitive, so that’s our goal coming into every game for sure.”

With 3v3 Seed Weeks and The Ticket looming, Plondo explained how Toronto is feeling mentally ahead of an exciting next few weeks.

“It’s not the season anyone expected from us. Especially since I only came in for the last bit of it, I wish we could’ve got more out of the 5v5 side.”

“We’ve gotta go into the 3v3 side mentally strong. Hopefully we can do that and it will translate onto the court.”

Up next, Raptors Uprising GC begins 3v3 Seed Weeks, with their first series scheduled for Tuesday, July 19th against Nets GC. Game 1 is scheduled for 9:00 pm EST.

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