RAPTORS’ STRONG BENCH HELPS MAKE WIZARDS DISAPPEAR
No Game 7 ‘headache’ for Toronto after closing out first round series on road
DeMar DeRozan said before Game 6 that he didn’t want to have to deal with the “headache” of Game 7.
You may put away your aspirins, fellas.
After playing a flat and disjointed three quarters that had it looking like the Raptors would once again have to end a playoff series with a Game 7 on home court, coach Dwane Casey spun his magic wheel of lineups to find a combination that worked for the Raptors in the fourth quarter, allowing them to pull ahead in a game they trailed most of the night and hold on for a 102-92 victory.
The win allowed the Raptors to accomplish many things: it was the first time in five playoff attempts at Capital One Arena that Toronto came out on the good side; it sent them into the second round having finally dispatched the eighth-seed Wizards; and it restored the sense that the East’s No. 1 seed might have finally turned a playoff corner.
It was a game that showcased much of what we knew about both teams going into the series. John Wall and Bradley Beal were spectacular for the Wizards, proving again they are an atypical eighth seed and their two guards match up well with Toronto’s all-star backcourt.
But the Raptors’ depth, the key to their East-leading season, was also on full display. It was their bench unit, finally at full strength with the return of Fred VanVleet from injury, that keyed a fourthquarter run that gave the Raptors their first sustained leads of the night. Casey left Kyle Lowry and DeRozan on the bench for a long stretch as the backups seized control of the game.
“It’s nothing different than we’ve done, we were just adding Freddie to the group,” Casey said after the win. “He’s the engine that drives that group.”
Washington coach Scott Brooks said “That unit just moves the scoreboard,” referring to the Toronto bench. He added he thought Casey should be coach of the year for the way he has remodelled the Raptors.
That bench lineup — VanVleet, Delon Wright, Pascal Siakam, Jakob Poeltl, C.J. Miles — produced big plays from everyone as the Raptors roared ahead, including a big three-pointer from Miles, a huge Siakam dunk and a pile of defensive stops. The Raptors outscored the Wizards by 18 with Siakam on the floor, and Wright and VanVleet were each plus-12 on the night. Depth was supposed to be a major asset for the Raptors, it just took six games to demonstrate it.
In the days since their comefrom-behind win in Game 5 in Toronto, the Raptors all said similar things about what they needed to do in Game 6, what needed to happen if they were going to finally win one in Washington.
“Play with the same confidence we do at home,” Lowry said on Friday morning.
He said the Wizards had done a good job at home at forcing turnovers by preying on weak passes, something the Raptors could control by making smarter plays. Lowry also said he and his teammates had to be ready to fire away when open looks presented themselves.
Casey has said repeatedly he’s not sure where the hesitancy has come from on the road, given the Raptors were a good travelling team all season. He said Friday morning his charges needed to play this sixth game, even though it was not an elimination situation, with a sense of urgency.
If his guys didn’t know that they needed to play with “toughness” and desperation, Casey said, “Then we shouldn’t be here.”
DeRozan certainly sounded like someone who knew what needed to be done, especially since the Raptors had shaken off previous Game 6 failures by closing out Milwaukee on the road last year.
“Yeah, I think we just got tired of Game 7s,” he said. “And the headache that comes with that.
“I think we’re at a point now where we really understand the importance of it and not wanting to go home. This is a great opportunity for us to get it out of the way and move on.”
But when the game started, it was the Wizards that jumped out to an early lead, opening a 12-point gap as they couldn’t miss and Toronto struggled shooting.
The Raptors weathered that poor start, though, and played their way back into the game thanks in large part to the return of VanVleet, who has been out with a shoulder injury suffered in the last game of the regular season. One wouldn’t have necessarily expected the East’s top seed to be boosted so notably by the return of their undrafted free agent backup point guard, but this series has been far from a casual stroll for Toronto.
As the second half wore on, Washington’s shooting cooled off, allowing the Raptors to reach the break trailing by just three, 53-50. That the game was not yet out of hand was fortunate for the visitors.
Toronto closed the gap in the third quarter and even took the lead by a point, but the Wizards closed with a burst that put them back up by five, 78-73, entering the final frame.
Then it was time for the bench to take over. In a season in which assorted role players were a huge part of Toronto’s success, it was a fitting way for this series to end.