The Washington Wizards took their eye off the ball in Game 1, allowing DeMar DeRozan to kick it out to his teammates for four wide-open three-pointers.
The Washington Wizards dropped Game 1 of the NBA playoffs, after the Toronto Raptors dropped 16 three-pointers on Washington.
All season long the Wizards have been preaching perimeter defense. That has been their Achilles’ heel. However, no in-game adjustments were made to stop Toronto’s onslaught.
Washington’s guards–John Wall and Bradley Beal–are the first line of defense when it comes to leadership.
What the Wizards did on Saturday was take their eye off the ball
While they were paying attention to DeMar DeRozan, he kicked it out and assisted on all of Serge Ibaka‘s three-pointers.
DeRozan basically said, I’m going to continue to have all eyes on me, so why not kick it out to OG Anunoby for an open-three as well.
The Wizards kept their eyes on DeRozan and their eyes off the ball.
While Washington was watching DeRozan, he was setting up his teammates who were now wide-open.
The Raptors backcourt only had 7 points combined going into halftime. Even though they didn’t have a lot of points, they made sure their team did.
After the game Coach Dwane Casey said, “It’s not two guys outscoring the other opponents. It’s the Toronto Raptors outscoring the other team.”
In the end, DeRozan and Kyle Lowry had 15 assists between them.
Coach Casey added this about his backcourt:
"“They did a good job of making plays,” Casey told reporters. “I think it’s consistent of what we’ve been trying to do the entire year: move the ball and set up other people and trust other people to make plays when [the opponent is] trying to take those two out. And they did.”"
Therefore, the first line of defense starts when Wall and Beal are guarding the Raptors backcourt.
Once DeRozan or Lowry pass the ball to a teammate, the Wizards backcourt has to yell for help. So they can get other defenders onto the Toronto player who now has the ball.
Everyone was still paying attention to the Raptors backcourt, when the ball was no longer even in their hands.
The Wizards floor generals have to start communicating more with their team on the court.
If Washington continues to take their eyes off the ball, don’t even think about setting your eyes on Round 2.