This is what happened in the series between Washington Wizards and the Toronto Raptors, which ended in a four-game sweep after the Wizards pummeled the Raptors, 125-94, in Game 4 on Sunday. These teams were separated by just three games in the regular season standings. Both had great starts, combining to go 46-15 through Dec. 29. And both were rather mediocre after that. They suffered losses right after the All Star break. But before the series began, Paul Pierce of the wizards throws some intimidating comments to the Raptors team that ignites the drama of the series. Moreover, Paul Pierce proves that his comments were real.
These two teams were expected to have at least a game 6 or go to a “do or die” game 7. Instead, these teams went in completely opposite directions. The Wizards maintained their status as a top-five defensive team, while scoring at a rate that was more efficient than any four-game stretch they've played since early December. The Raptors, meanwhile, maintained their status as a bottom-10 defensive team, while failing apart offensively.
Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry suffered foul troubles throughout and was also overwhelmed by his match-up John Wall of the Wizards. Also, Lowry has very few contributions in terms of scoring which is expected from him because he is one of Toronto’s star players. The Wizards responded as a good team should. They moved the ball quickly until it found the open man. They're not the Spurs, but they were the much more reasonable facsimile in this series. The Wizards played unselfish basketball by creating shots through assist. Over the four games, the Wizards passed the ball 219 more times than the Raptors. And in the context of how the teams tried to defend each other, that number says it all.
Marcin Gortat played well for the Wizards and proves himself as one of the necessary pieces. "It was a process for us," Wizards center Marcin Gortat said afterward, giving credit to reserve Drew Gooden as an offensive spark who moved the ball, set screens and spread the floor. "We just started playing together, having fun, distributing the ball. It doesn't matter who's going to score, as long as we're winning. I think we understood this at the end of the season. Now we're having fun playing like that in the playoffs."
DeMar DeRozan pushed his team to compete but it wasn’t enough. The Raptors could not execute defense enough to limit the Wizard’s offense. All they can do is look back at DeMar DeRozan’s late-November groin injury as the turning point of their season. They had been playing well on both ends of the floor until that point, but as head coach Dwane Casey tells it, they then got too focused on how they'd keep their offense afloat without their leading scorer. At that point, their defense went in the tank, and it never returned.
Toronto takes an unwanted early vacation. General manager Masai Ujiri will have to figure out if the defense can be restored with the existing roster and staff. And while he's at it, he'll need to determine if the Raptors' top-five ranking on offense was just a regular-season thing that fell apart when they were forced to play together and move the ball.
John Wall made his team flexible by distributing the ball. That's what the Wizards have done. Paul Pierce won't be going through customs until it's time to take his family on a summer vacation. His team is moving on to the conference semifinals as a much different squad than they were just two weeks ago.
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