Wizards-Raptors Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Mar 31 2012 2:18PM

After coming up just short again and again, the suddenly stingy Washington Wizards knocked off one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference their last time out.

In contrast, they haven't been able to slow down the Toronto Raptors during their last few visits to the Air Canada Centre.

Looking to post back-to-back victories for just the second time this season, Washington tries to avoid a fifth consecutive road loss to Toronto on Sunday night.

Ranking near the bottom of the league with an average of 99.8 points allowed, the Wizards (12-39) have surrendered just 87.8 per game over their last eight - giving up 97 or fewer each time. Washington hasn't held opponents to under triple digits in nine straight contests since Nov. 30-Dec. 17, 2002.

Despite their recent defensive prowess, the Wizards entered Friday losers of five in a row - with four of those defeats coming by four points or fewer. Washington, however, finally took advantage of its much-improved play and kicked off the weekend with a 97-76 rout of Philadelphia.

"Maybe this is a game we need to have that ice broken," said coach Randy Wittman, whose team limited the 76ers to 36.6 percent from the field and outrebounded them 52-38. "That was spectacular by our guys."

The Wizards now look for their momentum to carry over against the Raptors (17-35), whom they've taken two of three from this season - with their only loss coming 106-89 at Toronto on Feb. 3. Washington has allowed an average of 114.5 points in losing four straight north of the border.

In addition to their impressive display on the defensive end of the court, the Wizards received a huge offensive boost Friday from Cartier Martin. Martin made 4 of 7 from 3-point range in scoring a career high-tying 20 points off the bench in his second game after signing a 10-day contract.

"They go over a few things with me before I go onto the floor and let me know what I need to be doing," he said. "So I have an idea, but at the end of the day, it's basketball."

The Raptors, meanwhile, have lost six of eight following Friday's 113-101 loss to Miami. Toronto clawed its way back from an early 14-point deficit but couldn't keep up with the Heat down the stretch, getting outscored by 12 over the final 12 minutes.

"If you start out lackadaisical like that and let them have the haymaker, they are going to end it with a haymaker," coach Dwane Casey said. "We didn't have the resistance that we needed at the beginning of the game. We must have a better start than that."

Andrea Bargnani and DeMar DeRozan compiled a combined 55 points on 19-of-34 from the field while Jose Calderon scored nine and dished out 16 assists. Calderon had a season-high 17 assists to go along eight points and eight rebounds in the Feb. 3 win.

The Raptors could catch a break Sunday with Wizards big men Trevor Booker and Nene both uncertain to play. Booker exited in the first quarter Friday with a pulled ligament in his left foot before Nene left in the fourth with the same injury.

Nene, who was acquired prior to the trade deadline, had averaged 20.6 points against the Raptors while with Denver since 2008-09 - his highest mark against any opponent.

Bargnani scores 18 points as Raptors beat Wizards

Posted Apr 02 2012 1:47AM

TORONTO (AP) Although Washington's best defensive stretch in nearly 10 years hasn't led to a leap up the standings, the long-suffering Wizards believe it's an indicator of better days ahead.

Andrea Bargnani scored 18 points, Jose Calderon and DeMar DeRozan each had 15 and the Toronto Raptors beat Washington 99-92 Sunday night, their fifth straight home victory over the Wizards.

"I thought our guys fought hard being short-handed the way we were, we just couldn't get over the hump," said Wizards coach Randy Wittman, whose team was without starters Nene and Trevor Booker, both sidelined with left foot injuries.

Washington held its opponent below 100 points for the ninth consecutive game, something the Wizards hadn't done since Nov. 30-Dec. 17, 2002. Still, improved defense hasn't been enough for Washington, which is 2-7 in that stretch.

"You want the victories to come but time will tell with that," said Wizards guard John Wall, who had 13 points and 11 assists. "You've just got to be patient. Just know that you're working on your game and getting better and everything will work out fine."

Veteran guard Roger Mason Jr., who scored seven of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, said he's been telling his young teammates to keep working hard, even if the payoff isn't immediate.

"We know that positive momentum this year can have a lot to do with your success next year," Mason said. "We're taking these games very seriously. It's a challenge for us to see where we're at now. Every team that we play, they all have some kind of comment to say this is a much better team. That's no consolation when you lose but we definitely know we're going in the right direction."

Kevin Seraphin scored a career-high 16 points for the Wizards, who were trying to win back-to-back games for just the second time this season. Washington's only two-game winning streak came with victories at Detroit on Feb. 12 and at Portland on Feb. 14.

Jordan Crawford scored 18 points, Chris Singleton fouled out with 15, and Jan Vesely had 10 for the Wizards.

"It's definitely going in a good direction," Crawford said. "Coach Wittman is doing a great job of just keeping us focussed. Even though it's a losing season he's done a good job of keeping us focussed. I think we've got a lot of pieces and that we can win a lot of ball games in the future."

The present, however, isn't so rosy for Washington, which has lost 11 of 14 and 18 of 23.

"It's tough but the hope is the guys remember this feeling, remember what it's like when teams are trying to kill you and stomp on you and know that you've got to keep working to change it around," Mason Jr. said.

Amir Johnson scored 10 points and James Johnson, Gary Forbes and Alan Anderson each had nine for the Raptors, who never trailed.

Up by 10 to start the fourth quarter, Toronto increased its lead to a game-high 15 points - 80-65 - on two free throws by Bargnani with 8:11 left.

Washington pulled to 82-76 with an 11-2 run over the next 3:12, but a free throw by DeRozan and a jumper from Bargnani gave Toronto an 85-76 lead with 3:50 to go.

Seraphin's dunk brought the Wizards to 89-86 with 1:18 left but Amir Johnson's putback of DeRozan's missed jumper and two more free throws by Bargnani gave Toronto a seven-point lead with 51 seconds left.

"The follow-up tip dunk was huge," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "It was a great momentum play for us."

Wall converted a three-point play to cut it to four but DeRozan answered with a driving layup, giving the Raptors a 95-89 edge with 24 seconds remaining.

Bargnani scored eight points early as Toronto took a 9-1 lead but couldn't maintain the edge. Seraphin had six points for Washington and Mason Jr.'s jumper with 2 seconds left in the quarter cut it to 22-21 after one.

The Raptors pulled away again in the second, taking a 43-34 lead on Amir Johnson's dunk with 2:46 left. Wall and Seraphin each scored four points as Washington closed the half with an 8-3 run, cutting it to 46-42 at the intermission.

DeRozan scored 10 points in the third and Alan Anderson's jumper at the buzzer gave the Raptors a 71-61 lead heading to the fourth.

NOTES: Wittman said both Nene and Booker are improving but there is no timetable for their return. "They both felt better today than yesterday," Wittman said. ... Toronto and Washington split their four-game season series for the second straight year. ... Calderon finished with eight assists, ending a run of five straight games with at least 10. ... Toronto outrebounded Washington 43-31. ... All five Wizards starters reached double figures in scoring for the first time this season. ... The Raptors wore camouflage uniforms to honor the Canadian military, the third of four times this season they'll wear them.

Notebook: Raptors 99, Wizards 92

Posted Sunday April 1, 2012 10:00PM

By Duane Watson, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Toronto Raptors (18-35) defeated the Washington Wizards (12-40) 99-92 at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday. The Raptors led the entire game wire-to-wire and held a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter before the Wizards brought it to within three points with under two minutes left. While the Raptors sloppy defense let the Wizards back ito the game, their offense shut the door. Amir Johnson's put-back dunk with 1:03 on the clock started a 6-3 run that put the game out of reach.

Andrea Bargnani led a balanced Raptors attack with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Jose Calderon added 15 points and eight assists.

The Wizards were led by Jordan Crawford's 18 points and John Wall added 13 points with 11 assists. Kevin Seraphin had a career-high 16 points and seven rebounds starting in place of the injured Nene. The Wizards haven't won at the Air Canada Centre in five meetings and the season series finishes tied 2-2 with both teams winning on their home courts. The game was the fourth of the Raptors five-game homestand (2-2), which they close it out against the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday.

QUOTABLE: "I'm mad at him about that, cause they're going to show that on TV and me getting dunked on by my own teammate."
-- DeMar DeRozan on Amir Johnson's game-sealing put-back dunk

THE STAT: Every player who checked into the game for the Raptors scored, outperforming the Wizards' bench 40-20. Aside from Roger Mason's 12 points, Wizards coach Randy Wittman didn't have any other options in terms of offense. The Raptors were able to go to their bench deep and often with Amir Johnson leading the way with 10 points and six rebounds. "Nobody else did anything wrong, but we just wanted to distribute the minutes," Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said. "Forbes came in and gave us some good minutes and Alan Anderson gave us some excellent minutes defensively and offensively."

TURNING POINT: The Raptors never trailed in this game and had as large as a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter, but a Wizards 15-7 run brought the game to three point at 89-86 with under 2:00 minutes left. But Johnson's put-back dunk off a missed DeRozan lay-up at the 1:03 mark stopped the tide, and Bargnani's subsequent pair of free throws put the game away for good.

QUOTABLE II: "Another below-average defensive game for us. We got it back the second half, but we can't mess with the game like that. We have to stay with our focus and have that type of pride every time we walk on the floor no matter who it is."
-- Casey

HOT: Mason, a former Raptor, came off the bench and scored 12 points going 2-for-4 from the three-point line, including seven points in the final quarter where the Wizards had the game within reach.

NOTABLE: This was the third time this season the Raptors won wire-to-wire. ... The Wizards have dropped six of their last seven games, including three in a row on the road. ... Both Nene and Trevor Booker for the Wizards were out of the lineup with plantar fasciitis in the same foot (left). ... Jerryd Bayless didn't play for the Raptors with a partially torn left oblique muscle. ... With the win, Toronto improves to 10-17 at home.

UP NEXT: Toronto closes out its 5-game homestand on Tuesday vs. Charlotte, on Wednesday they are @ Philadelphia and are back on Friday vs. Cleveland. Washington is back at home on Monday vs. Milwaukee and plays at home again on Wednesday vs. Indiana, then is @ Detroit on Thursday.

• Wizards: Blatche, Lewis
• Raptors: Bayless

• Wizards: Wall
• Raptors: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
• Officials: #33 Zach Zarba, #56 Mark Ayotte, #18 Matt Boland
• Attendance: 16858
• Duration: 2:22