Washington Wizards vs. Toronto Raptors: Postgame Grades and Analysis
In a Game 1 battle typified by stout defense and missed shots, the Toronto Raptors pushed the visiting Washington Wizards to overtime before forgetting how to score and falling, 93-86. Both teams shot below 40 percent for the game, and DeMar Derozan was the only Raptors starter in double figures with 15 points, as none of the other four managed more than seven.
Despite a deafeningly raucous crowd inside Air Canada Centre to start the game, Paul Pierce eventually responded to their booing with made shots, and he drove Washington's offense while John Wall and Bradley Beal struggled. That elite backcourt combined to miss 30 of their 41 shots.
Reserve Raptors point guard Greivis Vasquez briefly played the hero, drilling a game-tying three-pointer with 26 seconds remaining to force overtime. But the Raptors offense suffocated in the extra period and got outscored, 11-4.
After the Raptors led by seven points during the second quarter, they trailed by 15 in the fourth. Their rally included a 16-3 run, but just forcing overtime seemed to require all they had left in the tank. The Wizards have won seven of their last eight road playoff games stretching back to 2008, a trend the Raptors will seek to reverse in Game 2.
| Paul Pierce | A- |
| Nene | B |
| John Wall | B- |
| Marcin Gortat | B- |
| Bradley Beal | C |
| Rest of Team | B |
| Amir Johnson | B+ |
| DeMar DeRozan | B- |
| Jonas Valanciunas | C+ |
| Terrence Ross | C- |
| Kyle Lowry | D |
| Rest of Team | A- |
Washington Wizards
Bradley Beal, Shooting Guard
Bradley Beal's shot was all out of whack. He hit halftime on 1-of-9 shooting, and he bricked one open look at a corner three-pointer off the side of the backboard. His second field goal of the game came on a possession where Terrence Ross blocked him from behind, but he managed to corral the loose ball and score on a floater—just like they drew it up.
Though he flirted with a triple-double thanks to 16 points, nine boards and six assists, Beal also committed a game-high four turnovers. He finished with fewer field goals than Pierce even though he attempted 13 more shots. The Wizards will be thankful this low-efficiency game from their guards didn't result in defeat.
Beal also drew the sixth foul on Kyle Lowry and waved him a cheeky goodbye after draining a difficult shot, as if the series weren't already packed with enough drama.
Grade: C
John Wall, Point Guard
With Beal on 6-of-23 shooting, Wall's 5-of-18 effort seems efficient by comparison. He was the only starter who did not attempt a free throw, indicating his dribble penetration was off the menu for Game 1. Wall still notched 10 points, eight dimes and only one turnover.
But while he turned in a forgettable effort on offense, Wall's defense made a huge impact. He turned Kyle Lowry's afternoon into a hellscape of broken dreams, or so it seemed at times. This blocked shot in the first quarter embodied Wall's persistent, energetic D.
Grade: B-
Paul Pierce, Small Forward
The Toronto fans genuinely seem to dislike Paul Pierce—some might even say that they hate him. He blocked Lowry's jump shot to preserve a Game 7 win for the Brooklyn Nets in last year's playoffs, ousting the upstart Raptors, so there's justification behind it.
Now that Pierce is a Wizard, the Toronto crowd relished chants deriding him early in the first quarter and throughout the first half, booing him when he touched the ball and jeering his missed shots.
They should not have poked the bear. Pierce warmed up the skillet in the second quarter and finished the half as the team's leading scorer with 10 points. He opened the scoring in overtime with a three-pointer and finished with 20 points, along with four boards, a steal and a block.
Head coach Randy Wittman played Pierce at the 4 for stretches as well, showing the 37-year-old's persistent versatility. It's an unusual lineup, and the Raptors have players to match up against that look, but they couldn't do enough to prevail.
Grade: A-
Marcin Gortat, Center
Marcin Gortat picked up two fouls in the first five minutes, though, the second one came on a borderline blocking call that involved DeRozan bowling him over.
Though he did not find himself in serious foul trouble later in the game, his minutes were held down in part by lineup matchups. He made three of his six shots to get eight points and eight boards in 26 minutes.
Grade: B-
Nene, Power Forward
Nene hoisted nine shots in the first quarter alone, converting only three. That typified the team's slow start from the field, with little luck outside the key.
But he wasn't just shooting the ball, as he crashed the boards for seven first-quarter rebounds as well—four offensive—helped by both teams' inability to shoot better than 40 percent.
Nene actually upped his efficiency and made three of the four shots he attempts after the first quarter, ending with the team's only double-double on 12 and 13 and posting a team-high plus-10 rating.
Grade: B
Rest of Team
Kevin Seraphin came through with a strong effort on the bench and helped keep the minutes down for starters Gortat and Nene. He notched 10 points, four boards and two assists.
Drew Gooden hit the boards hard, grabbing an even 10, which softened the blow of his six points from 10 shots.
Otto Porter Jr. has been dealing with an ankle injury and was listed as questionable for Game 1, via CBSSports.com. And yet, he came off the bench to log nearly 34 minutes in a solid defensive effort.
Ramon Sessions put an exclamation point on the third quarter and padded the Wizards' lead with a coast-to-coast layup in a flash during the closing seconds. He had a uneven game with six points and four fouls.
Grade: B
Toronto Raptors
DeMar DeRozan, Shooting Guard
Despite hailing from California, DeRozan has become like Canada's version of James Harden. He averaged 20.1 points per game this year, his second consecutive season as a 20-point scorer, and he chipped in handily in other categories with 4.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
After finishing the regular season as the April Player of the Month in the Eastern Conference, it seemed predictable that he would start strong in Game 1. Instead, he finished on 6-of-20 shooting for just 15 points. He did lead the team in rebounding with 11 and in assist with six. However, his 43 minutes on the court ultimately proved fruitless in the bitter home defeat.
Grade: B-
Kyle Lowry, Point Guard
Lowry struggled to find shots working against John Wall and never got in rhythm. He also did not help his cause by picking up five fouls with more than seven minutes remaining.
Lowry would foul out with two-and-a-half minutes left in regulation, and the team could have really used a resurgence from their All-Star point guard in the overtime period, when the offense seemed to have run out of ideas. Lowry finished a very disappointing day with seven points on 2-of-10 shooting, eight rebounds, four assists and three turnovers.
Grade: D
Jonas Valanciunas, Center
The Raptors did not seem to look for Jonas Valanciunas on the offensive end, and they were eventually outscored, 52-44, in the paint. The Lithuanian made three of his seven shots and grabbed eight rebounds in 24 minutes.
That was in keeping with a trend for both teams, as they did not afford many minutes to the starters at the 4 and 5.
Grade: C+
Amir Johnson, Power Forward
Head coach Dwane Casey elected to start Tyler Hansbrough over Amir Johnson. That may have motivated Johnson to come up big in Game 1, and the matchups were more favorable for a time.
Johnson turned in a big effort off the bench with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting, plus eight rebounds and a block. He was the star of a bench unit that saw all four reserves reach double digits.
Wittman has a decision to make on his Game 2 lineup: Start Johnson after his strong effort, or stick with the same setup that worked in Game 1 by bringing him off the pine.
Grade: B+
Terrence Ross, Small Forward
Terrence Ross was the only Raptor with more than one field goal in the first quarter; he had two. Instead, he cooled off for the rest of the game, and the team really needs its athletic swingman to hit with more consistency from outside.
In eight April games, Ross had shot just 39.7 percent from the field and a season-low 30.2 percent from downtown. That trend persisted precisely when Toronto needed a boost from the man who once scored 51 points in a game.
Though Ross blocked a game-high two shots behind some nifty help defense, he only made three of his 11 shots and missed all six attempts from downtown.
Grade: C-
Rest of Team
The Raptors scored a whopping 48 points off the bench. Kudos to them, but it also means that the starters managed only 38 points in a home playoff game.
Vasquez became an unlikely hero in the final minute of the fourth quarter as the Raptors capitalized on Beal's missed runner. He had the ball in the half court and, after his defender flopped on contact hoping to get a foul call for a push-off with the elbow, found himself wide open off a screen and drilled the game-tying triple.
His little shimmy afterward was especially stylish, but the team needed him and that shimmy in OT as well.
Lou Williams remained quiet for most of the game, but he finally woke up and drained consecutive three-pointers late in the fourth quarter, pulling the Raptors to within two points after trailing by 15 just six minutes previously. That helped the cause, but the Sixth Man of the Year candidate finished with 4-of-16 shooting for 10 points.
To highlight Williams' inefficient day, Patrick Patterson and Vasquez each scored 10 points and only needed 14 shots combined to do so. Patterson came off the bench and made four of his first five shots to get 10 points by early in the second quarter, but he failed to score after that.
Hansbrough started Game 1, but it wasn't the first postseason start for Psycho T. He got five starts for the Indiana Pacers in the 2011 playoffs, his sophomore season. This time out, he tallied four points and a block in 13 minutes.
Grade: A-
Coming Up Next
For some insane reason, Game 2 is not until Tuesday, which should give Father Time, aka "The Truth," plenty of time to rest and recover. You can watch the action on NBA TV at 8 p.m. ET.
The Raptors won all three meetings with the Wizards during the regular season, but the last two went to the wire—a 120-116 overtime victory on Jan. 31 and a 95-93 squeaker in Toronto on Feb. 11. The Raptors also have just one playoff series win in franchise history, winning a best-of-five over the New York Knicks in 2001. They'll look to turn the tide and even the series in Toronto on Tuesday night.
