National Basketball Association
Toronto 108, Washington 98
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario
Officials:
#56 Mark Ayotte, #8 Marc Davis, #29 Mark Lindsay, #30 John Goble
Attendance:
19987
By Field Level Media
DeMar DeRozan put his team on his back, pouring in 32 points and leading the Toronto Raptors to a 108-98 win over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday in Game 5 of the first-round playoff series at Air Canada Centre.
Toronto leads the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series 3-2. Game 6 is Friday in Washington. The home team has won each of the first five games.
In a close, back-and-forth affair, the Raptors led 79-78 heading into the fourth quarter. Kelly Oubre Jr. converted a three-point play with a dunk and a free throw that gave the Wizards an 87-82 lead with nine minutes to play.
Toronto answered with eight consecutive points, capped by a dunk from DeRozan, to regain the lead.
Delon Wright drained a 3-pointer and then got behind the Washington defense for a layup that gave the Raptors a 99-93 lead with three minutes left. C.J. Miles drained a dagger 3-pointer that extended the Toronto lead to 13 as the Raptors finally pulled away.
"Jonas gave us some big minutes in the fourth quarter," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "We had the matchups that we liked in that situation. But I thought Delon Wright did a good job down the stretch, handling the ball, gave us an opportunity for Kyle and DeMar to get off the ball a little bit more, and I thought that was the difference."
Wright scored seven straight points in the fourth quarter and finished with 18 points off the bench. Kyle Lowry added 17 points and 10 assists.
Washington point guard John Wall scored 26 points, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out nine assists. Bradley Beal added 20 points but had just three in the decisive fourth quarter.
"We felt like we let one slip away," Wall said, according to ESPN. "But at the same time, we played aggressive, we just didn't make shots. They made the bigger shots at the end of the game. Other than two or three turnovers, we got all the looks we wanted in the fourth quarter.
"We like our chances (of forcing Game 7). We're very confident."
The Wizards scored only one field goal during a 10-minute stretch in the second quarter, but Toronto failed to separate itself. Beal and Porter hit late jumpers, helping Washington trim to Raptors lead to 48-47 at halftime.
Beal got off to a slow start, connecting on just two of his first seven field-goal attempts, but heated up in the second half. He scored seven early points in the third quarter as the Wizards kept coming.
Toronto was without sparkplug guard Fred VanVleet, who continues to deal with a shoulder injury that has kept him out all but a few minutes of the series.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Washington |
|
Toronto |
|
John Wall 26 |
Scoring |
DeMar DeRozan 32 |
|
John Wall 9 |
Assists |
Kyle Lowry 10 |
|
Marcin Gortat 12 |
Rebounds |
Jonas Valanciunas 13 |
|
Kelly Oubre Jr. 7 |
Free Throws Made |
DeMar DeRozan 5 |
|
Bradley Beal 1 |
Steals |
Kyle Lowry 3 |
|
John Wall 3 |
Blocks |
Jonas Valanciunas 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Washington
|
98 |
41.1 |
5-26 |
19-22 |
21 |
50 |
4 |
6 |
18 |
| Toronto
|
108 |
46.3 |
11-25 |
21-28 |
26 |
35 |
5 |
9 |
10 |
Upcoming Games
-
Toronto will play their next game on the road against Washington. The Raptors have a W/L % of .700 after a win and .773 after a loss.
-
Washington will play their next game at home against Toronto. The Wizards have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .553 after a loss.
For more information, contact us