When the Toronto Raptors dropped back-to-back games in the nation’s capital, a feeling of “here we go again” emerged surrounding the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Though the Raptors were still in control of the series with home-court advantage, the Washington Wizards created some doubt, and despite an impressive Game 5 victory back in Canada, there was some modicum of pressure on the favorites as the series shifted back to the district for Friday’s Game 6.
Then, the Wizards took a lead into halftime, and, suddenly the Raptors were also playing against their own history. In fact, Toronto had never claimed a road victory in a playoff game when trailing at the break, and the sample size was significant.
The Raptors are 0-23 all-time when trailing at halftime on the road in the playoffs.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 28, 2018
On cue, the Raptors played some of their best basketball of the series in the third and fourth quarters, putting the Wizards away and emerging with a 102-92 victory that doubled as the series clincher.
Kyle Lowry led the way for Toronto with 24 points (on 9-of-15 shooting), six rebounds and six assists, and that performance, in tandem with strong team defense after halftime, was more than enough. The Raptors held the Wizards to 37.5 percent shooting in the final two quarters, and while Bradley Beal and John Wall were able to accumulate numbers, Toronto ensured that it was a two-man effort from the underdogs, and that proved to be an effective strategy.
In fashion true to the team’s persona this season, it was a complete effort from the entire Raptors roster in the series finale. Every member of the 10-man rotation scored four points or more, and while Lowry’s performance did rise to the surface, it was quality work from the supporting pieces (and, in particular, the prominence of Fred VanVleet) that helped catapult Toronto to the series win.
It should be noted that a No. 1 seed needing six games to take care of business against the No. 8 seed isn’t particularly impressive on paper, and Raptors skeptics will undoubtedly point to the absence of dominance. Still, Toronto finished things off on the road against a No. 8 seed with (much) more talent than a normal team in the same position, and that should provide some level of optimism as a second-round showdown approaches against the winner of the ongoing Cavs-Pacers series.
