DeMar DeRozan’s tough winner lifts Raptors over Wizards
Despite the resurgence (or just surgence?) of the Cleveland Cavaliers and generally very impressive play of the Atlanta Hawks, the NBA’s Eastern Conference remains fairly wide open. The East’s eventual representative in the NBA Finals could depend on matchups more than seeding and homecourt advantage. As such, any regular-season game between contenders seems just a little more notable, in that it could provide some insight into which teams others may want to avoid this spring.
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For the average viewer, though, it’s mostly just fun to watch two evenly matched teams go at it. Such was the case in Wednesday’s matchup between the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards at Air Canada Centre. Washington led by as many as 10 late in the third quarter, but the full fourth was a close affair with the margin never growing four points in either direction. With 35 seconds remaining, the teams were knotted up at 93-93. Toronto shooting guard DeMar DeRozan attempted to change that, mostly failed, and then made something from what seemed like nothing with the shot clock running down:
John Wall missed a potential game-winning three-pointer on the game’s final possession to give the Raptors the 95-93 victory. Oddly, Wall’s fellow All-Star starter Kyle Lowry attempted to foul him before the shot attempt, but referees let the play go to end the game.
Raptors superfan and global ambassador Drake was pretty pleased with DeRozan’s winner:
The shot helped put a positive on a rough shooting night for DeRozan, who went 6-of-18 from the floor and 10-of-10 from the line for 23 points. DeRozan didn’t let that rough shooting faze him on his final attempt:
The star of the night, however, was reserve guard Louis Williams, who followed up a scoreless outing on Sunday vs. the San Antonio Spurs with 27 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Wall filled up the stat sheet for the Wizards with 21 points and eight assists.
The win came at a good time for the Raptors, who play nine of 11 games on the road after the All-Star break, with the first coming next Friday at the conference-leading Hawks. While it’s unlikely that any momentum (which, you know, doesn’t necessarily exist) would carry through a nine-day break before a very tough stretch of the schedule could make a difference in the team’s eventual finish in the standings.
This game finished off the season series between the teams, with the Raptors winning all three contest by a total of 25 points. The silver lining for the Wizards is that two of their losses came without shooting guard Bradley Beal, who sat out his third game in a row Wednesday due to a stress fracture in his right tibia. It’s unclear how long this injury will affect Beal, but it could change things if these teams face off in the postseason.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
