By Anthony McCree II
Today, the Washington Wizards kicked off their 2015 playoff run with a victory in rival territory. They took game 1 in Toronto from the Raptors, a team that they haven't defeated all season, they faced a very tough crowd with high energy, against a team that can blow you out at home you're not careful.
The ended the first quarter down by four, it could have been even worse, as they didn't score their first field goal until over 2 minutes had passed in the game, Gortat was forced to leave the quarter early due to picking up a second foul with 6:48 left, and they gave up open looks that Toronto did not fully capitalize on.
They cleaned some of those defensive woes in the second quarter, and that seemed to be a key ingredient to them winning the quarter and going into the half with a 4 point lead.
After the half, the Wizards continued to look like the better team, as they scored 19 and held the Raptors to only 14 points, expanding the lead 9. This continued through the 4th quarter, where they were up by 15 points with about 9 minutes remaining in the game. Easy win right?....Wrong!
The Raptors stormed back as the Wizards struggled to execute offensively in the 4th quarter, they stayed in it, and kept creeping back into the game until former University of Maryland star point guard Greivis Vasquez made the comeback official with a three pointer with 25.9 seconds left.
The Wizards, then called time out and drew up a great play, where John Wall was isolated at the top of key, he dribbled the clock away, with barely no motion in the offense, no one attempting to pick or screen, and no one cutting to the basket, he tried to drive past Vasquez, and failed and was forced to settle for a jumper, which he missed....you can probably sense my sarcasm, because in my opinion, that was a horrible play to call, especially, coming out a timeout (face in palm) smh.
However, the lost lead did not stop the team on this day, they regrouped, stayed poise and made the clutch plays they need to make to win the game in the extra period, final score 93-86.
Key's To The Win
Rebounding
The Wizards out rebounded the Raptors 61-48 giving them the edge on the glass by 13. Nineteen of the rebounds were offensive boards, that's key in terms of second chance points, and keeping a team like Toronto from using their various skills in the open court, NeNe lead the way in the category with 13 rebounds in the game.
The Truth Will Set You Free
In true Paul Pierce fashion, he did not hold his tongue when asked about how he felt about facing Toronto in the first round, having not won a game against them in the regular season.
"We haven't performed particularly well against Toronto, but I don't feel they have "it" that makes you worried"This he stated in an interview with ESPN. His statements of course had to become "bulletin board" material for Toronto. Nothing shows the effect Pierce's comments had on the franchise more than the reply from Raptors GM Masai Ujiri.
"We don't give a Sh-t about that"Real easy to say you don't care when a GM of a team, is referencing it during a pep rally (I'm just saying).
Whether it bothered the Raptors or not, Pierces still had to step up and back up his statements, and that he did. Scoring 20 points in the game, and 10 points in the second quarter alone, after Randy Wittman decided to play him at the Power Forward spot, Pierce's experience and poise was also key as he scored 5 of his 20 in overtime.
If the Wizards are going to win 3 more games in this series, a repeat of some of the things they did well, may have to be in order.
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