Raptors get their mojo back, finish Wizards in Game 6: 3 takeaways

Shaking off pressure, demons and a change of momentum, the Raptors won their first round series with the Wizards.

Pressure built on the Raptors after they allowed the Wizards to win both games at home and even their first round series at 2-2. They shed that pressure with two straight wins and another enormous fourth quarter to advance to the next round.

The Wizards received a blow earlier today when it was announced that Otto Porter would undergo surgery and miss, at the least, Games 6 and 7 of this first round series. Still, Washington came out strong and built a 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter. But Toronto kept grinding, pounding Washington on the inside, and used another huge closing run to propel themselves into the next round.

Takeaways

Welcome back Fred VanVleet. You can’t make too much of an 18-minute sample, but the Raptors must have been relieved to see VanVleet back on the court. Their sterling bench unit hadn’t been nearly as effective without him but he returned tonight and helped steady the ship. VanVleet scored just five points on 2-of-7 shooting but he added four rebounds and four assists and the Raptors were +12 in the 18 minutes he was on the court.

Closing strong. The Raptors held a one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter of Game 5, and came away with a 10-point win. They trailed by five heading into the fourth quarter tonight and, again, came out with a 10-point win. Toronto did drop two games in the series, but across the six games they outscored Washington by an average of 21.3 points per 100 possessions in the fourth quarter, second only to the 76ers in the playoffs this season. The strong closing kick bodes well for their chances as they move on to face the winner of Game 7 between the Pacers and Cavaliers.

Next: Anthony Davis is here for the Warriors and everything else

Washington’s depth evaporated. The bench has been the Wizards’ Achilles heel the past few seasons but the emergence of players like Tomas Satoransky during John Wall’s injury-absence, and the late season addition of Ty Lawson appeared to make this the deepest Wizards team we’d seen in awhile. Satoransky never really had a chance to get involved, playing just 60 minutes in the series. Ty Lawson was 4-of-18 on 2-pointers. Kelly Oubre was 4-of-19 on 3-pointers. Once again, John Wall and Bradley Beal were terrific. Otto Porter was solid in support. Everything else crumbled away.