On the Wizards last possession, Wall was fouled and missed two free throws that could have pushed the lead to three; a fitting conclusion for a Washington team that loses their fourth straight game, and still looks all sorts of weird on the offensive end.
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This win has to feel great for the city of Toronto and the Raptors players, and will hopefully relieve some of the pain of being swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Wizards. The Wizards were led by Wall (18 points, five assists, four rebounds) and Beal (20 points, two steals) but Washington simply couldn’t slow down the Pacers’ hot-shooting trio.
But they got a Cory Joseph three-pointer at the buzzer to steal an 84-82 win from the Wizards. The Raptors sank 11 of 24 3-pointers in the first of four meetings against the Wizards.
It could be argued that a frightful shooting night for John Wall was the reason the Wizards were unable to pull away from the Raptors. Beal was able to both get to the rim and find his outside shot, while Gortat now had space to roll to the basket, get off hook shots in the post, and grab rebounds on both ends of the floor. A pair of Wall free throws put the Wizards up 82-79 with 10.2 to play. None of the Wizards could make a shot from there, allowing the Raptors an opening.
The Raptors ran a perfectly executed play and found Joseph in the corner for the game-winning three. Toronto had 13 turnovers in the first half and 22 overall before the crowd of 16,841.NOTES: Wizards G Gary Neal was a late scratch because of a strained left groin…. But Wall missed a pair next, setting up the final sequence. That was a recurring theme throughout the night: The Wizards would play well enough to get a slight lead, and then Lowry, Joseph and DeRozan would claw their way back into the game. They started 2-7 two years ago and lost 12 of 15 games at one point last season.
Kyle Lowry was on fire once again, dropping 27 points and shooting 6-for-11 from beyond the arc.
Joseph had 12 points and six assists in the win. But he missed both and the Raptors corralled the rebound with three seconds left in the game. With three to go, DeRozan with the jumper and it’s 80-76.
The Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards are going in very different directions heading into their matchup in the nation’s capitol on Saturday.
“It’s not easy but we got to cut the negativity we have coming from players, coaches, staff, media”, Gortat said.
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The Washington Wizards have lost four straight after a good start, dropping to 6-8 on the year. “If we’re made out of anything at all, the guys that were here should have that in the back of their mind”. Washington heads back onto the road for its first meeting of the season against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.
