The Wizards went into a very rowdy Air Canada Centre and came away with wins in the first two games of the series. As the series now shifts to Verizon Center in DC, the Wizards seem to be the ones in the driver’s seat. With two games in a row being played at home, the Wizards, who had a 29-12 record at home this season, will try to go for the series sweep.
The first quarter began very slow for the Wizards as the Raptors took an early 10-point lead, but Washington fought back and kept finding throughout the game to take some pretty large leads. Washington was in control of the game for the most part after the slow start, and Toronto couldn’t do much to compete with the hot streaks Wizards shooters were having.
The second quarter by Washington has to have been one of the best performances in a quarter by the team this entire season. They went from a 5-point deficit at the end of the first quarter to having an 11-point lead going into halftime. They played well on both sides of the ball, as the offense went for 34 points, and the defense held Toronto to 18 points.
Going up this big on Toronto really helped the Wizards secure a victory. As a franchise, Toronto is 1-18 when down at the half in the playoffs, so they statistically had a very low chance of coming back and getting a win.
Shooting in the third quarter was on the Wizards strong suit. They scored 37 points, and seemed to not be able to miss any shots. At points, it wasn’t even the starters keeping up the lead, but the bench was performing well and shooting lights out.
Otto Porter has to be given a lot of credit for holding down the fort for Washington in many different situations. Porter played 34 minutes when the Wizards went small and when they had to sit Paul Pierce for either rest or foul trouble. Porter easily recorded his career high in points, 15, while also grabbing 9 rebounds, stealing the ball once, and dishing out an assist. It should also be noted that Porter lead the team with a plus-minus of 17.
Last night, the Wizards were firing on all cylinders, and must keep this up in Game 3 to keep Toronto’s hopes down. The win was a step in the right direction for this young team who is looking to make some more noise.
