DeMar DeRozan scored 37 points and led a Toronto onslaught as the Raptors rolled over the Wizards 130-119 in Game 2 of their first-round series on Tuesday night.
John Wall scored a game-high 29 points to go along with 9 assists but got next to no help from his fellow starters. The rest of the starting five combined for 27 only points. Mike Scott, arguably the second best player on the Wizards in this series had a nice game with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 4-of-5 from three-point range and Ty Lawson, playing his first game as a Wizard, added 14 points and 8 assists off the bench.
Toronto started the game where they left off from the last one, connecting on their first four field goals and forcing Scott Brooks to burn an early timeout. The timeout didn’t work. The Raptors knocked down seven three-pointers in the opening period en route to a franchise-record 44-point first quarter.
Washington started the second quarter connecting on their first six field goals but unfortunately for the Wizards, they couldn’t get any defensive stops. They trailed 76-58 at halftime and if it weren’t for Mike Scott scoring 14 first-half points, it could have been way uglier.
Washington got back into the game with a better second half. They trimmed the deficit to 10 at end of the third quarter and even cut the lead to five, 108-103, in the fourth quarter. But as soon as they got within an arm’s reach, Toronto countered with a 17-4 run to pull away and send the Wizards back home down 0-2.
Takeaways
This one was over early
Otto Porter knocked down a midrange jumper to start the game as the Wizards took a 2-0 lead. But, that was just about the only thing that went well for the Wizards in a nightmarish first quarter for Washington where they showed just about as much intensity as they would in a mid-January game against the Atlanta Hawks.
Washington’s regular season bad habits, mainly on the defensive end, reared their ugly head from the get-go. The Wizards couldn’t get a stop in the first quarter if their life depended on it and lapses occurred in a variety of ways. Toronto had the ball on a string, and that had Washington scrambling and more often than not, creating wide-open three-point attempts for the Raptors.
With the Wizards already in a 17-6 hole, John Wall picked up his second foul of the game on an offensive foul where he was out of control driving through the lane at the 7:42 mark of the first quarter. His early foul trouble led Ty Lawson to see his first action as a Wizard. To make matters worse, Bradley Beal picked up his second foul and was forced to go to the bench at the 3:59 mark of the period all but erasing Washington’s hopes in this one not even one quarter into the game.
Toronto shot 59 percent from the field and knocked down 7-13 three-point attempts en route to a franchise-high 44-point first quarter.
The Wizards trailed by as many as 22 points in a quarter that featured two separate 10-0 runs by the Raptors.
All Washington starters not named John Wall no-showed tonight
John Wall led the Wizards with 29 points and 9 assists with most of his damage coming after halftime as he was sidelined for most of the first half with foul trouble. He was much more aggressive in the second half and again, was not settling for jumpers. He got to the hole and finished and got to the stripe as well, knocking down all 11 free-throw attempts.
Unfortunately for Wall and the Wizards, he was the only starter who played well. Porter, Morris, Beal, and Gortat combined for 27 points on 32 shots. Morris was -31 on the night and Beal was a -34, the worst plus/minus for a Wizards player in a playoff in 20 years.
Game Notes
It’s never easy for the Toronto Raptors, right? It should be the franchise motto; they could put it on a T-shirt. Even in the best era in franchise history, nothing has ever been easy for the Raptors, except for losing. There are always rocks in the water, somewhere. Unless, of course, you learn to sail. The Raptors played a Game 2 without the weight of a Game 1 loss on their shoulders Tuesday night, and they were mercilessly, joyfully good. A 44-point first quarter, an 18-point lead at the half. The Washington Wizards were bickering. The Raptors looked free. And when the inevitable run came, it was … fine. Wizards point guard John Wall led a charge, and the lead was down to 108-103 with 7:52 to go. This is where previous Toronto teams might buckle; this is where previous teams might fall. Read more: Opinion | Dave Feschuk: Teamwork and timing on Raptors’ side in Game 2 win
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Record-setting Raptors trounce Wizards again Wizards need short-term answer to Raptors’ long-range success But these Raptors are something new. They got a little lucky, sure. C.J. Miles salvaged a brutal possession with a crazy long three; Delon Wright blocked a Wall floater right before it started to come down. They were just on the side of right.
Next thing you know, Toronto stomped on the accelerator, scoring 17 of the next 21 points, and putting the Wizards in an 0-2 hole with a 130-119 win. This is what good teams do, when challenged. The last time the Raptors won Game 1 of a best-of-seven had been 2001. The last time the Raptors went up 2-0 in a playoff series was never. “We strong as a team, we not strong as individual players,” said Jonas Valanciunas, who had 19 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks in just 23 minutes. “We did it as a team. We were great defending, helping each other, more than our own strengths. I think this is team sport and when you play it together, support each other, help each other, it’s fun. It gives you extra confidence to enjoy the game.”
This team isn’t top-heavy anymore, especially with Kyle Lowry’s shooting struggles so far in this series, writes Bruce Arthur. ( Rick Madonik/Toronto Star )
“They’re a number one seed for a reason,” said Wizards coach Scott Brooks, who just might be hopeless. “They play extremely well at home, and they did what they’re supposed to do.” The Wizards could go home and tie the series. The Raptors have won two games, that’s it. But you have never been able to apply that very basic bar to the Raptors, and now you can. The best part, in some ways, is that it was far from their best. Toronto’s bench, a season-long strength, failed to impose itself as a unit, Wright and Miles aside. Backup point guard and on-floor assistant coach Fred VanVleet returned from his shoulder injury suffered in Game 82, and badly missed a three and fumbled a pass before sitting back down for good, disconsolate; Casey said “he wasn’t ready.” The three-pointers dried up in the second half, and Kyle Lowry is 2-for-12 from three in the first two games. But the great joy of this team is its collectivity. DeMar DeRozan played one of his finest games, with 37 points on just 23 shots. As Lowry said, “He sucks as a friend, but as a basketball player, he’s really good.” But the real sauce is that the Raptors have so many good players that eventually some of them click. Valanciunas was a force in his 23 minutes. OG Anunoby was effective in his 19. Wright and Miles were great. The starters, as a unit, dominated. If you listen to DeRozan and Lowry explain it in their practised Statler and Waldorf cadence, it all makes sense.
“These days it’s not like I have a mindset that I have to go out there and score 30 or 40 points,” began DeMar, next to Kyle on the podium. “You just had 37!” said Lowry. “What you mean?” “I didn’t go out there saying, ‘Let me score 30 tonight,’ ” said DeRozan.
“Dang, you got 37,” said Lowry. “You can’t say that when you get 37.” They bickered playfully. Lowry let him finish. “Like I said, I didn’t go out there planning to score 37 points, I went out there trying to be aggressive, and with my aggressiveness came 37 points.” DeRozan added, “I’m pretty sure everybody will have their night. Tonight it was me, and that was that.” They’re loose, because this is fresh ground. Even last year’s six-game win over Milwaukee ended with the Bucks mounting a furious, end-of-the-world comeback that Toronto narrowly escaped, leaving Raptors employees a little ashen-faced. Now? Well, an email was sent about 12 hours after the Cleveland Cavaliers got spanked by the Indiana Pacers on Sunday afternoon, so maybe 24 hours after the Raptors won that rare Game 1. It went out to ESPN’s whole basketball operation. Housekeeping, logistics, that sort of thing. “(It said), ’Make sure your passports haven’t expired, just in case Toronto makes the finals,’ ” recounted ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe on his highly respected podcast. Lowe added, “Man, we never got that email before. We didn’t get that email last year. We didn’t get that email two years ago. People are starting to believe in the Raptors.” Asked about it, Lowe said he really didn’t remember that happening before. It would make sense if it hadn’t. Maybe these are the Raptors, free of the ghosts. Get enough good players on a team, and good things can happen. And these Raptors, they have more good players than you.
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Jrue Holiday had a career playoff-high 33 points and the New Orleans Pelicans took a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers with a 111-102 victory on Tuesday night.
Rajon Rondo had 16 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Pelicans, who host the Blazers on Thursday as the series shifts to New Orleans. Anthony Davis added 22 points and 13 rebounds.
CJ McCollum, who struggled with backcourt teammate Damian Lillard in the opener, rebounded with 22 points to lead the Blazers.
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Portland trailed by as many as 11 points in the third quarter but Lillard hit a 3-pointer and added a free throw to tie the game at 93 with 7:31 left. Holiday’s pull-up jumper and Rondo’s driving layup kept the Blazers from pulling ahead.
Maurice Harkless dunked and Al-Farouq Aminu had a layup to re-tie the game at 97. After Holiday’s hook shot, Harkless made a 3-pointer to give Portland a 100-99 lead, but it was short-lived.
No1 Raptors 130, No8 Wizards 119
DeMar DeRozan matched his career playoff-high with 37 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and 14 rebounds and the Raptors beat the Wizards, taking a 2-0 lead in a playoff series for the first time in franchise history.
Kyle Lowry had 13 points and a career playoff-high 12 assists as Toronto set team playoff records for points in a quarter, a half, and a game.
CJ Miles scored 18 points, Delon Wright had 11 and Serge Ibaka 10 for the Raptors, who snapped an NBA-worst 10-game losing streak in Game 1s with a 114-106 win on Saturday.
Toronto, which made a team playoff record 16 3-pointers Saturday, connected on 12 of 32 from long range in Game 2, making only one in the second half.
John Wall scored 29 points, Mike Scott had 20 and Ty Lawson 14 for the Wizards, who host Game 3 on Friday night.
No2 Celtics 120, No7 Bucks 106
Jaylen Brown had a playoff career-high 30 points and the Celtics pulled away into second half to earn a win over the Bucks.
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Terry Rozier added 23 points for Boston, which took a 2-0 series lead in the first-round matchup. Game 3 is set for Friday in Milwaukee.
The Celtics led by as many as 20 in the fourth quarter.
Milwaukee got as close as 107-97 with 4:13 to play. But the Celtics responded with an 11-2 run, capped by a banked in 3-pointer by Brown to push their lead back up to 118-99.
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Khris Middleton added 25 points.
Turnovers were an issue for the second straight game for Milwaukee. The Bucks finished with 15, leading to 21 Boston points. They also shot just 41% from the free-throw line (7 of 17).
