Wizards prepare for retooled Raptors
Toronto earned top seed by focusing on ball movement
TORONTO — A “culture reset” carried the Toronto Raptors to the top of the Eastern Conference for the first time this season.
Next, the Raptors will try to hit reset on their playoff history with the Washington Wizards.
After Cleveland swept the Raptors in the second round last spring, team president Masai Ujiri promised to change the culture surrounding the club.
That meant greater emphasis on ball movement and 3-point shooting, something the Raptors were able to execute immediately. Toronto had 67 games with at least 20 assists, up from 34 the previous year, and averaged 33 shots a game from beyond the arc, third most in the NBA.
“We won 59 games,” All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan said. “I think that speaks for itself. We know what works for us, what got us here, and what’s going to take us even further.”
Thanks to the offensive overhaul, this Raptors team is far removed from the one swept in the first round in 2015, a series in With guards Bradley Beal, left, and John Wall working as a tandem in the backcourt again, the Wizards slink into the playoffs after losing five of the final six games. which the Wizards won by an average of 14 points.
“That’s old news, it’s years ago,” All-Star guard Kyle Lowry said. “We’re a different team, different style of play, different people, different egos.”
Raptors coach Dwane Casey said the humiliating sweep helped sow the seeds for Ujiri’s reset.
“That’s one reason why we did change things,” Casey said. “To give us some other options in the playoffs when teams do try to take away DeMar and Kyle.”
Toronto may have retooled its way to the top of the East, but the Raptors still face a tough first-round test against Washington’s tandem of All-Star guards, John Wall and Bradley Beal.
The speedy Wall averaged 19.4 points and 9.6 assists this season. He would have ranked second in the NBA in assists but was limited to 41 games because of injuries, too few to qualify.
“We’re not going to look at them like they’re the eighth seed because we understand what this team is capable of,” DeRozan said.
Still, the Wizards lost five of their final six games, including defeats to Chicago, Atlanta and Orlando, the three worst teams in the East.
MEEKS SUSPENDED: The NBA suspended Wizards guard Jodie Meeks 25 games without pay for using a banned substance. The NBA says Meeks tested positive for Ipamorelin, a growth hormone that’s prohibited under the league’s drug program. Meeks’ suspension makes Washington’s signing of guard Ty Lawson just before the playoffs make more sense. Lawson replaces Meeks on the Wizards’ bench behind starting guards John Wall and Bradley Beal. The 30-year-old Meeks averaged 6.3 points off the bench and was shooting just under 40 percent.