DeMar DeRozan Powers Raptors to Crucial Game 5 Win vs. John Wall, Wizards
The Toronto Raptors grabbed a 3-2 series lead with a 108-98 victory over the Washington Wizards in Game 5 at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday night.
This series held form through the first four games, as the home team won each contest. This pivotal matchup was no different.
Early on, the host's stars came out on fire. Toronto's DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry combined to make five of their first six shots to give their team an early five-point edge. At one point, DeRozan was keeping pace with the Wizards as a team.
However, John Wall and Co. managed to grab a 24-23 lead after the opening period, even with Bradley Beal going just 1-of-5 from the floor for two points. As DeRozan dropped 13 in the first, Wall answered with nine points of his own as well as three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
That set the tone for the rest of the game.
After Washington opened up a five-point advantage to start the second, Toronto responded with a 16-5 run to grab a six-point lead. The Wizards found a way to keep it close, though, even as DeRozan continued to dominate.
However, it wasn't pretty, as the Washington Post's Candace Buckner noted:
Despite their struggles shooting the ball, the Wizards' dominance on the glass helped keep them in the game, as evidenced by their 50-35 rebounding edge on the night.
DeRozan had 20 by halftime on 7-of-13 shooting. But like Washington, Toronto players not named DeMar had a tough time getting shots to drop, as TSN's Josh Lewenberg pointed out:
The third quarter provided an opportunity for Wall and DeRozan's sidekicks to come through. Both Lowry (eight points in the third) and Beal (nine) made their presence felt as the two squads continued to battle.
For the third straight intermission, just one point (in Toronto's favor) separated the two teams.
Washington opened up a five-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but as had been the case all game, the other team had an answer.
In the end, Toronto's supporting cast was the difference. Delon Wright scored 11 in the final period, including a late 7-0 run by himself to power the Raptors to their largest lead, to give him 18 on the night.
After entering the fourth with eight points and six rebounds, Jonas Valanciunas had six points and seven rebounds in the final 12 minutes. Valanciunas had not played in the fourth quarter all series, but due to Serge Ibaka's ineffectiveness (three points on 1-of-3 shooting, two rebounds and zero blocks), he was called upon to play down the stretch.
It paid off.
Game 5 proved to be an entertaining battle of stars in Toronto. DeRozan (32 points) and Lowry (17 points and 10 assists) put their team on their back, while Wall (26 points and nine assists in 44 minutes) and Beal (20 points) did the same for the Wizards.
Game 6 will be played at Capital One Arena in Washington on Friday night, with the Wizards facing elimination.
