FCFP Pre-Game Inspection: Apr 4th Playoff RD1 GM1 vs KW Titans

1: Regular Season Overview
The Lightning had quite the regular season with highs and lows throughout that put them in the position they are in now. We finished with the third best record in the NBLC sitting 22 and 18 with Sudbury and St. John's right behind us, each with 21 wins. The Lightning were in last place in the Central Division as of February 6th after a blowout loss to Windsor. After that game, they went 10 and 2, which put us back into first place to end the season. London is a balanced scoring team with no player averaging more than 13 attempts per game and having seven players averaging double digits in scoring and even ten players averaging at least 9 points per game. This all-around play on offence brought London to the 3rd most points per game in the league. The Lightning's strong offence shows in other categories as well, sitting at 2nd for assists per game (22.4/game), and field goal percentage (46.8%), and finally finishing in 3rd for 3 point percentage for the year (35.5%). One knock people make against the Lightning is we do not have one go-to offensive player, but we have seen scoring outbursts that have taken over games by several London Players. The biggest names would be Mo Bolden, the teams leading scorer at 17 ppg, Garrett Williamson a former NBLC Finals MVP, and their bench duo in Xavier Moon and AJ Gaines who can make plays at any time, which was shown in previous games with Xavier having 7 games and AJ tallying 10 games with 20 points or more. Defensively the team has struggled more, ranking in the bottom half in some key categories such as points allowed per game, steals per game, and opponent field goal percentage. However, the Bolts are in the top half in rebounding, opponent three-point percentage, and leading the league in blocks per game. London has been a strong offensive team with multiple players to watch out for on that side of the ball, but they will need to be sturdy on defence, preventing the Titans from getting to the basket and switch on the perimeter to keep them from getting hot from three.

2: Playoffs here we are
It was a tough stretch to get here, but the Titans and Lightning made it. They were an even matchup throughout the year, splitting the season series three to three. The Lightning did score more total points over the six games they played one another with 702, but the Titans were close with 697. KW always played London well the whole season with blowouts coming on both sides and close victories coming from either side as well. The Titans finished middle of the pack in most categories on the defensive and offensive side of the ball but have excelled in some such as three-point percentage (36.7%) for 2nd in the league, 2nd in rebounding (49.3), and 4th in points per game (111.2) very close to the Lightnings 3rd place 111.4. The Titans completed the regular season going five for five and winning their final game against the FIVE in a blowout showcasing their strong 3 point game making 19 of 41 for 46%. The Lightning will need to have an eye on their shooters throughout the series to keep them from racking up points quick. London will also need to have bodies on the boards to rack up the rebounds and keep KW from getting second-chance looks. The series should be a fiery one with two strong teams that are going to come out with big-time energy every time out.

3: Where to watch
At Budweiser Gardens!!! The Lightning are home for the first two games of this series so you will want to come out to the Garden to witness all the great action we will have in store. For tickets visit this link here https://bit.ly/2UoOjqU . If you can't make it out to see the game, then you can still watch at home through NBLC Live by streaming the game and keeping up with the team that way. You can head to NBLC Live through this link here https://nblclive.ca/