Wizards Fall to Raptors
After beating the Raptors back in D.C. in January, tonight was another story as Toronto returned the favor and took down the Wizards, 106-89.
The game was close for much of the first half, although the Raptors were able to build a 10 point halftime lead. The Wizards made their run in the 3rd quarter and turned a double digit deficit into a one-point game, but from there it was all Raptors as they closed out the Wizards with ease.
The biggest difference in the game was on the boards, as the Raptors outrebounded the Wizards 61-37.
Nick Young led the Wizards in scoring with 21 points, eclipsing the 20 point mark for the second straight game. John Wall had 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists while Trevor Booker did a nice job off the bench once again, dropping in 13 points, ripping down seven boards, and blocking two shots.
Leandro Barbosa led the Raptors in scoring with 19 points, while Amir Johnson notched a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
The Wizards are back in action on Saturday night when they take on the Los Angeles Clippers at Verizon Center.
Highlights
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Quotes
Wizards Head Coach Randy Wittman:
Thoughts on the game…
You have to give credit to Toronto; they outplayed us in every phase of the game. Disappointing, coming in here after we’ve been playing I think at a pretty good high level, but tonight wasn’t it.
Thought on Toronto being more physical…
Rebounding is effort. We didn’t have that same effort tonight that we’ve had, and that showed. I mean 23 offensive rebounds and 61-37 that told a lot.
TREVOR BOOKER :
Thoughts on the game….
It was tough. It is very tough to win when you get out rebounded by 24 against anybody. That was the main thing that they beat us on. We tried to make runs but they would miss a shot and get the offensive rebound. That wore us down because we had to work more on defense.
Were you surprised by how physical they were?
Not really. I know that they remember us beating them. So I know that they wanted some revenge. I really wasn’t surprised.
How disappointed were you, knowing how well you played the last three or four games?
It’s very disappointing, but we have to let this loss go because we have another game tomorrow.
JAVALE MCGEE:
Thoughts on the rebounding…
It was a lot of long rebounds and Toronto was in the right position so they definitely out rebounded us by a lot. Their guards rebounded and also their bigs rebounded, so they had good collective rebounding.
Was this a step back game with all the progress you have made?
I don’t feel like it was a step back game, but I felt like we should have come out a little bit harder. We should have gone out there and played harder ‘D’ but we have another game tomorrow so we have to make up for it. We definitely have to make up for it.