Jonas Valanciunas is a fourth-quarter hero, and other takeaways from Game 5

In a must-win game for both teams, the Raptors took Game 5 and wrested momentum back from the Washington Wizards.

Every playoff series has enormous stakes but the first round matchup between the Raptors and Wizards is in the extreme. Both teams have stretched their cap space and gone all in on their star veterans in an attempt to contend for a title. Toronto was a lot closer to that goal, winning the No. 1 seed in the regular season and the first two games of this series. Washington took the next two, putting everything on Game 5.

Whoever ends up losing this series will have ended their season in disappointing fashion, with the potential for enormous ramifications over the summer. With their backs to the wall, it was the Raptors who rose to the challenge.

John Wall played a superb game and the Wizards led by as many as five in the fourth quarter. But Toronto battled back and over the last six minutes of the game, held Washington to just nine points on 3-of-13 shooting. The final margin was 10 points, inflated by some late free throws for the Raptors and not capturing how close the game was.

Toronto now has two chances to close out the Wizards and make good on their potential.

Takeaways

Playing Jonas Valanciunas in the fourth quarter was a bold move, Cotton. Valanciunas hadn’t seen the court in the fourth quarter in any of the previous games in this series, as coach Dwane Casey tried to prevent having his defense in space become a target for Washington’s attack. He played just over eight minutes in the fourth in this game, a stretch where the Raptors outscored Washington by 18 points. Washington couldn’t exploit his defense and Valanciunas chipped in six points, seven rebounds (including three on the offensive glass) and a huge steal on John Wall. He got his shot and he was the difference for Toronto.

Washington’s shooting was ugly. Bradley Beal made 3-of-6 3-pointers. That’s pretty good. The rest of his teammates made 2-of-17. That’s pretty bad. Kelly Oubre Jr. was 1-of-7 and now just 3-of-16 for the series. Beal and Wall were good but they’re much better when everyone around them is making shots.

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The Raptors saved their season in these four minutes. Check out this live win probability graph.

If the Raptors lose this game, their chances of surviving the series plummet. Instead, 538 now gives them a 90 percent chance of advancing. The Raptors have taken a lot of flak for playoff failures but they pulled through when they need to tonight.