Plenty to prove
TORONTO TO FACE WASHINGTON IN FIRST ROUND OF NBA POST-SEASON
The Toronto Raptors’ slogan for the NBA playoffs says everything: “Prove ’em.” Coming off their finest regular season in franchise history, the Raptors now hope to exorcise some huge postseason demons, and prove the countless doubters wrong. The Raptors face the Washington Wizards in Game 1 of the opening round on Saturday, and a victory out of the gates at the Air Canada Centre would be significant in itself. Toronto hasn’t won an opening game in the postseason since 2001, when they defeated Philadelphia in the first game of a second-round series before losing in seven games. They’re a woeful 1-11 all-time in Game 1s, including losing all of their openers in the last four years and effectively coughing up homecourt advantage each time. Point guard Kyle Lowry, who’s garnered a reputation for his poor play early in the post-season, vows Toronto will come out firing on all cylinders this time. “I feel pretty ready,” guard Kyle Lowry said. “We’re ready to go.” The Raptors, who earned the No. 1 seed after their historic 59-23 season, also face a Wizards team responsible for handing them one of their most humiliating performances in playoff history — the Raptors were swept by the Wiz in the opening round in the 2015 playoffs. But while the faces are largely the same, it’s a significantly different Raptors squad from three seasons ago, or even last season. After being ousted by Cleveland for the second straight year, team president Masai Ujiri spoke of a cultural reset, and then charged coach Dwane Casey with changing the team’s style of play.
Not an easy task, but it worked. A team that once ran all its plays through Lowry and DeMar DeRozan is now all about ball sharing. They’ve also significantly improved their three-point shooting after losing a shootout to the Cavs last season. And they’ve developed one of the best second units in the NBA. The Raptors ran a tongue-in-cheek campaign to have their “bench mob” considered for the sixth man of the year award.
The Raptors-Wizards series is seen to be the most lopsided in the opening round. While they split their season series, the Raptors’ 7.2-point margin of victory is the largest among the eight playoff series.
Toronto is the only playoff team that ranks in the top five on both offence and defence, while Washington sits in the middle of the pack.
And while the Raptors once spoke about the pressures of playing on homecourt, they have embraced it this season, tying Houston for a league best 34 wins at home.
The Raptors’ 7-6 record to close the season is concerning, although Washington (43-39) lost nine of its last 12, including a 101-92 defeat in Wednesday’s regular-season finale against an Orlando team that had nothing to play for.
The return of Washington guard John Wall will also be an intriguing storyline this series. Wall was sidelined for a good chunk of the season — including all four games against Toronto — with a knee injury.
If the Raptors get past Washington, they’ll likely face their biggest postseason demon of all: LeBron James. The Raptors would play the winner of Cleveland versus Indiana in the second round.