Raptors defeat Wizards to win Game 1 in National Basketball Association playoffs

It’s the start of the National Basketball Association playoffs with a clash north of the border. VanVleet was injured in Wednesday’s regular season finale. The win gives Toronto a 1-0 series lead.

Washington has no one to blame but itself for its predicament of facing the top seed in the conference in the opening round. Vegas has typically been fairly accurate when setting the total of Wizards games, with 43 unders compared to 37 overs. “I wouldn’t say they took away Kyle and DeMar, but they trapped them and made other guys make plays”.

Instead, Casey revamped and re-tooled, embracing the 3-pointer, and developing a bench that was a key component of those 59 victories.

The Wizards have been outscored by an average of 4.6 points in their last five games. Washington is 21 in the league on the glass with 43.1 boards per game.

The Raptors rank sixth in points in the paint per game (48.6) while the Wizards rank 25th (42.3). Washington’s John Wall had 13 points and 10 assists, and his backcourt partner Bradley Beal had nine points on his own.

Wall missed two months after undergoing knee surgery in late January. Then Mike Scott, Washington’s top scorer off the bench, committed a flagrant-1 foul by bodychecking Lowry on his way to the hoop. Washington is 11 in field goal percentage as the team shoots a collective 46.7 percent from the floor. Washington hits 37.5 percent from downtown.

76ers 130, Heat 103: Ben Simmons had 17 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds in his playoff debut, and Philadelphia romped again without Joel Embiid, beating Miami Heat for its 17th straight win. Toronto has spent all season saying and acting like this season is different, and it sure seemed like that’s true given how easily they won the Eastern Conference this year. Lowry played more minutes than usual and was at point guard early in the fourth with several substitutes for the Raptors’ push.

BC-BKN-Wizards-Raptors, 1st Ld-Writethru, 901 Ibaka scores 23, Raptors win Game 1, beat Wizards 114-106AP Photo JFJ526, NSD121, JFJ522, JFJ517, JFJ519, NSD119Eds: Raptors 114, Wizards 106. Lowry handed out 9 dimes, and DD 6.

From all indications, the Raptors are treating this Game 1 very differently from Game 1’s in years past. During Oubre’s 16-minute stint, he matched up against Delon Wright, CJ Miles and even saw two possessions against big man Pascal Siakam. On the next Toronto possession, he found an open Serge Ibaka, who hit a three-pointer.

Raptors are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 vs.

“Their star players get better every year, definitely, and they’ve added pieces”. This Raptors team is significantly changed from the one that was swept in first round by Washington in 2015. Toronto took the first step by winning Game One on the strength of a second-half comeback, a fine defensive effort in Q4, and points from 10 of 11 players.

“His feel for the game is quicker than just throwing a rookie out there”, Casey said. And the biggest thing is to get a good foot forward.

The Washington Wizards aren’t your typical 8-seed either. “We’ve lost a lot of Game 1s”, said Lowry, who has been part of the past seven defeats.