Their season is at stake tonight in Sudbury, Ont., for the St. John's Edge, and although their future will be ultimately decided by what transpires on the court against the Sudbury Five, decisions made earlier in the day will also have a huge say in what will happen for the Edge.
After a 124-112 loss to the Five Wednesday night, St. John's is down 2-1 to Sudbury in their best-of-five first-round National Basketball League of Canada playoff series. But the hope is that the Edge will have leading scorer Dez Lee back in the lineup for a do-or-die Game 4.
Lee had been scratched for Wednesday's game because of an injury, whose nature was undisclosed but was obviously serious enough to sideline one of St. John's most durable players. Lee had played all 42 of the Edge's games this season prior to Wednesday and now has missed just two of 91 regular-season and playoff contests over the past two seasons.
Lee's unavailability hurt on more than just the offensive end. He's probably also the Edge's best defender, and defence is of premium importance when playing a team like the run-and-gun expansion Five, who feature the NBLC's most prolific scoring attack, led by league most valuable player Braylon Rayson, super sub Cory Dixon, former St. John's point guard Maurice Jones and Jaylen Brand, named the circuit's newcomer of the year earlier this week.
What's more, Lee is a guard, a position at which the Edge have been dealing with a shortfall for some time because of the absence of super shooter Carl English.
English, who had held the NBLC's MVP title before Brand was recently named the 2018-19 winner, hasn't played since Feb. 7 while he's recovered from surgery on ligaments in his left thumb. The 38-year-old Newfoundlander, who is with the team in Sudbury, has been doing shooting drills and taking part in game-day warmups for some time, but has yet to receive medical clearance to play. That, too, could happen today, but the odds attached have to be longer that those on Lee's return. Normally, a surgery like the one English underwent would require a recuperation time that would stretch at least until the end of this month.
Having said that, if the series gets to a Game 5, which would be played Sunday afternoon at Mile One Centre in St. John's, and if there is even the faintest green light from the medical side — maybe even there isn't — the betting would certainly shift towards English being in the lineup.
But to get there, the Edge will have to do something they haven't yet done, which is to win a game in Sudbury, where also they lost a regular-season matchup in late February.
It would help if St. John's gets a repeat performance from big man Glen Davis, who had 27 points and a game-high 11 rebounds Wednesday in a game played before just under 1,800 fans at the Sudbury Arena. But even with 19 points from Isaiah Tate, who replaced Lee in the starting lineup, it wasn't enough for the Edge to overcome the Five's high-powered offence, led by Brand's game-high 31 points and 25 more from Dixon off the bench.
Twitter: @telysports
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