Lightning drop 2023 opener

In Thursday night’s season opener, the Sudbury Five dealt London their first loss on home court since before the COVID-19 pandemic. The end result? An 86-83 win in a chippy, low-scoring affair.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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The London Lightning went a perfect 16-0 at Budweiser Gardens last season on the way to winning their fifth NBLC title. On Thursday night, in their 2023 season opener, they lost in their first try on home court. In a low-scoring affair, the visiting Sudbury Five dealt London an 86-83 loss.

It was the Lightning’s first action since a short training camp, and the rust showed. The defending champs shot a dismal 36 percent overall (32-for-89) and made 10 of 40 three-point attempts (25%). They threw the ball around, tossed up a few airballs, and generally looked like they were scrimmaging rather than playing the opener of their 2023 season.

Outside of a short 1:45 window early in the second quarter, after London grabbed a 26-24 lead following a three-pointer by newcomer Mike Edwards, Sudbury led the rest of the way Thursday night. The visitors jumped out to an 11-1 lead and held a 13-point advantage, 48-35, at halftime.

“That was ugly. It was a comedy of errors across the board,” Lightning coach Doug Plumb told Gameday London. “I thought we got outworked in all facets of the game … from a mental toughness standpoint, a lack of execution of the scouting report, you name it.”

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

And, yet, somehow the home side still had a shot at the end of the game. After outscoring the Five 26-17 in the third quarter, which included an 11-0 run to end the frame, London pulled to within one possession with 1:37 remaining – and then again with 26 seconds left.

But it was a mental error that cost the Lightning a chance at tying things up. After a defensive stop, with nine seconds left, Terry Thomas pulled down the rebound and went coast to coast and attempted a two-pointer – when the team needed a three to tie the game. He missed the shot, anyway, as time expired.

Plumb immediately rushed over to his veteran, who was sitting under the basket, exhausted, realizing his error. It was a tough finish for the Nova Scotia native, who played 38 minutes and scored a game-high 28 points on 12-of-25 shooting. He also finished with 13 rebounds to post a double-double.

“I just said, ‘look man, you need to know time and score. You’re a vet. I understand you’re exhausted, but we need to be better than that. That can’t happen.’ But you can’t fault Terry,” Plumb said. “He’s literally been working with his family’s company on dump trucks in Nova Scotia until a week ago (when he signed), and we had to ride him tonight.

“The thing you can always count on with Terry Thomas is he’s gonna come to work. He’s gonna put his hardhat on, and you have to respect his effort. He embodies the type of basketball that I want to play. Blue collar, gritty, he just gets the job done.”

Lightning players watch the 2022 NBLC championship banner being raised at Budweiser Gardens prior to Thursday night’s season opener. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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The type of basketball Plumb doesn’t want to play is the undisciplined variety, which is exactly what cost him a player — and potentially a game. With 2:04 remaining in the first half, Lightning point guard Chris Jones — and Sudbury’s Darohn Scott — were both ejected from the contest after a physical altercation in what was already a chippy affair. It was just the latest in the saga of Chris Jones, who was suspended last season after spitting in the direction of referees in a game in Sudbury.

“That’s their game plan, get under Chris Jones’s skin, and Chris Jones erupts. That’s the nature of the beast,” said Plumb. “You gotta be better than that. You gotta be above it. That isn’t toughness, that’s actually weakness. Chris needs to be better. It’s poor leadership.

“We needed an extra body, we lacked scoring and guys were exhausted. If we have Chris Jones at the end there, we win the game.”

Outside of Thomas, offense was hard to come by for London in their season opener, as they were held to just 83 points – a number not seen the entire 2022 season (their lowest point total last year was 90 in a road loss to the Albany Patroons. At home, London’s fewest points was 104).

Jordan Burns was the only other London player to reach double figures Thursday – and he did so on 4-of-15 shooting for 12 points. Newcomer Adham Aleeda hit a trio of three-pointers for nine points. Jones had seven points before being ejected, while Lance Adams and newcomer Cam Lard had six points apiece. Christian Nobles, another new face this year, had a team-high five assists.

“Jordan was just out of sync. He’s a gamer, and he’ll be better,” Plumb said of Burns, who’s still on London, England time. “We just got him, he’s only been through a walkthrough in the gym. Jordan is and will be one of the mainstays on the team.”

A frustrated Plumb was less committal after Thursday’s loss about others on the roster. Heat of the moment or not, the coach says he’s not going to be patient with a lack of effort.

“I thought it was very disrespectful how a lot of (players) came in and thought, ‘We’re the London Lightning, we’re going to win the game just by showing up.’ There were some things tonight I saw that are very alarming from a toughness standpoint that I’m just not going to tolerate.”

Still, it’s hardly time to hit the panic button after one loss — even if it was London’s first home loss since before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“It’ll start to click. It might be a bit ugly at first, but I’m not a big believer in beautiful practices because the game isn’t beautiful. You have to figure it out, but eventually it clicks. We’re gonna be okay.”

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** Editor’s update: Sources report that Chris Jones was involved in another altercation after the game — this time with Sudbury’s head coach, Logan Stutz. After a minor scuffle between the teams in the tunnel, Jones reportedly made his way through a crowd of players and pushed Stutz from behind. The altercation was witnessed by the NBLC commissioner and sources say a suspension is likely.