Washington Wizards vs. Toronto Raptors Series Recap: Wizards Run Through The 6 With Their Woes
The stage was set to be an entertaining, if not impactful, 7 game series between the Washington Wizards and the Toronto Raptors.
Words were exchanged in the days leading up to Game 1; Raptors were determined to prove Paul Pierce wrong about not having the ‘it’ factor and avoid bowing out of the playoffs at his disposal for two years running.
Both teams featured explosive backcourts, significant inadequacies on opposite sides of the ball (offense for the Wiz, defense for the Raps) and coaches that had faced their share of criticisms.
Toronto faithful gathered in the thousands outside of the stadium to cheer on a team that was carrying the faltering hopes and dreams of a city that just a few months ago watched the Raptors race out to a 24-7 record and 1st place in the Eastern Conference. But nonetheless were feeling highly confident matched up against a Washington team that had lost 7 of 8 to its northern counterparts.
Then the games started. And as it turns out, like a sprained ankle, the Washington Wizards ain’t nothing to play with.
By the time Washington put Toronto out of its misery last night, they had racked up 125 points and administered a beatdown that completed their first 4-game sweep in franchise history.
Other than a late 4th quarter run in Game 1 that pushed the Wizards into overtime and a last second spurt in Game 3 that brought the score within 3 with under a minute to go, Toronto was largely listless for the 8 day span of this series.
Between Kyle Lowry’s foul trouble, DeMar DeRozan’s shot selection, and Jonas Valancunius’ turnstile defense, the Raptors had no answer for anything Washington did and looked ready to book that flight to the Caribbean as soon as possible.
GM Masai Ujiri faces some big questions about what to do with this core.
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Should he assume the first half of the season is a reflection of who they really are or is it clear that an all-offense no-defense team has no chance of competing for a title?
But rather than harp on Toronto’s struggles, the focus should be on everything Washington did right because:
A) this is after all a Wizards blog and B) they flat out won this series on their own merit.
Randy Wittman coached the series of his life and after being implored by everyone in the stratosphere to play more small-ball, he finally relented. The lineup of Wall-Beal-Porter-Pierce-Gortat outscored the Raptors by 34.9 points per 100 possessions, per Basketball-Reference. Overall, Washington had an Offensive Rating of 114.9 and averaged a whopping 110.3 points per game.
And after an incredulous reliance on mid-range jumpers for 82 games, the Washington Wizards ramped up attempts from downtown, hoisting up a shade over 24 per game. Including the franchise record 15 made 3s yesterday, the Wizards are currently 1st amongst playoff teams in 3PT% and Paul Pierce’s True Shooting % (81%) basically breaks all basketball databases.
Marcin Gortat was equally impressive in his own right, as he benefitted from the increased space in the middle of the floor and destroyed the Raptors all series on pick-and-rolls and offensive rebounds.
His PER (27.7) and Win Shares/48 minutes (.315) would make even Anthony Davis blush and the rim protection he offered for every futile drive by Raptors guards was instrumental in Washington controlling pace and getting out into the open floor after each missed shot.
But this series truly belonged to the face of the Washington Wizards franchise.
Not even 25 sitting on 25 mil, John Wall was a blur throughout 4-game set and eviscerated his Eastern Conference All-Star backcourt mate off of the face of the Earth.
In his 5th season and 2nd playoff appearance, Wall has a perfect grasp on how to control the game on both sides of the floor and when to pick and choose his spots.
We know about the crazy assist numbers and the defense that led Lowry to a TS% of 39.6%, but Game 4 was a microcosm of everything that D.C. loves about #2. He took just 5 shots and 7 free throws (only 2 shots and 0 free throws after the 1st quarter) in 25 minutes of play.
Yet he dominated the game about as loudly as possible for someone who finished with 14 points and 10 assists. Wall will be the best player on the floor regardless of whether Washington faces Atlanta or Brooklyn and must continue playing at a level that is only reserved for the true superstars in the NBA.
Now moving to the other half of the House of Guards, Bradley Beal continues to excel when the lights turn on in the playoffs. After setting all sorts of under-21 records last year, Beal picked up where he left off, averaging 20-5-4 and remembering that his beautiful stroke looks best when it counts for 3 points instead of 2.
Now, he might be too strung out on compliments, overdosed on confidence at times, but for Beal it’s important to stay aggressive and attack defenses rather than settling for bad shots that bail out his opponents. He finished the series shooting under 40% from the field but averaged almost 4 more FTAs per game than in the regular season (6.3 to 2.6) and almost 3 more 3s (6.8 to 4.1).
We’ve reached 900 words without even mentioning the true X-factor for Washington; Otto Porter.
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After the high expectations that come with being drafted in top 3, Porter’s rookie year campaign could not have gone worse.
After an increased workload in Year 2, he showed some signs of promise but was largely invisible on the court.
All that changed when Wittman jumped in his time machine and came back from 1995.
Porter played more with starters and the results were as his supporters expected. 10 points and 7 rebounds on a TS% of 62.3 and defense on DeRozan that’ll haunt the latter’s dreams until at least October.
Porter isn’t the prototypical wing who can take over games. He might have you thinking, “What is he doing? What is he doing?” He’ll be sure to let you know, “Oh yeah, that’s right. I’m doing me”.
This series was truly something special.
I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun watching the Washington Wizards play basketball. There may have been sporadic moments (Arenas’ 60 point game vs. the Lakers, Andray Blatche hoisting jumpers amidst boos from Verizon Center faithful) but this is easily the best iteration of the franchise in my lifetime.
Where they go from here cannot be certain. Toronto, for all their early-season success, was a horrific defensive team that was basically dead in the water. Atlanta will pose a much bigger challenge. Hawks won 60 games and tore Washington up in their 3 real matchups. Continued adjustments from Wittman will be vital to continue a potential dream run.
Three years ago, Washington sat at 4-28 as a franchise in disarray. In 2015, they have made Round 2 for the second consecutive year. Started from the bottom now they here.
Goodbye, Toronto. The Washington Wizards just ran through the 6 with their woes.