The Washington Wizards conjured their 2014 road form to defeat the Toronto Raptors 93-86 in Canada last night.
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The Wizards’ enjoyed a stunning 5-1 record away from the Verizon Center in the post-season last year, and their away form came to the fore again as they overcame a slow start to draw first blood in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Paul Pierce showed there’s still some magic left in his locker as the veteran rolled back the years to score 20 points for Washington.
The 37-year-old, who also had four rebounds, has played more games (148) in the post-season than the entire Raptors’ roster combined (79) and he showed all his 17-years of NBA experience to end as the game’s top scorer and help his team take a 1-0 lead into Game 2 on Tuesday. Bradley Beal also netted 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the visitors.
Paul Pierce is putting on a show. Meanwhile, Toronto has not adjusted to Wizards smaller lineup and they are not hitting perimeter shots.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) April 18, 2015
The Raptors will be sick of the sight of Pierce – he helped eliminate them from the playoffs last year as a Brooklyn Nets’ player. Victory would have been a significant one for the home team as the Raptors have never previously won their opening series game in the first round of the playoffs.
They will be under pressure to level the series in Game 2, also in Toronto on Tuesday.
The Raptors’ free-flowing attack was nullified by Washington’s superior defence in a low-scoring game at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto were unable to lean on talisman Kyle Lowry who scored a miniscule seven points as he was fouled out.
The burden was left on Amir Johnson, who top scored with 18 points, and DeMar DeRozan who scored 15 and collected 11 rebounds and six assists.
With his last 3-pointer, Paul Pierce moved past James Worthy for 22nd on the all-time postseason scoring list.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 18, 2015
The Raptors, cheered on by a fervent home crowd, showed swagger and style early on as they opened up a 23-19 lead at the end of the first quarter.
That gap was soon swallowed up by the Wizards, however, with Pierce beginning to exert his influence on the game and with three minutes left in the half Washington took the lead for the first time.
Leading 46-42 at the interval, the gap was extended in the third quarter as the Wizards went into lockdown. Only 33 points were scored in the third as the away team extended their lead to 65-56.
The Raptors refused to lie down though and clawed their way back in the fourth. They set a franchise record 49 wins in the regular season thanks to an offence that is easy on the eye, and a flurry of late points in the final minutes reduced Washington’s lead before Greivis Vasquez’s three-pointer with 25 seconds left took the game to overtime.
That was as good as it got for Toronto though as they were limited to just four points in the additional period, while Pierce netted five of his 20 and the Wizards killed the atmosphere among the partisan home crowd.
“It was such a hostile environment and they beat us all year long in the regular season. We just stuck with the game plan, followed it and got the win,” said Pierce afterwards.
The Raptors will be desperate to record their first playoff series win in 14 years since Vince Carter led them to a 3-2 first round win over the New York Knicks in 2001.
