The Washington Wizards claimed a win in Game 1 of their opening round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors in a dramatic 93-84 overtime victory.
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Paul Pierce received a hostile welcome at the Air Canada Centre after his pre-game comments stating that he didn’t believe the Raptors had “it” to make him worried about playing them in the playoffs.
‘The Truth’ backed up his words with action on the court as he ended the game with 20 points as his scoring was key in opening up a big lead for the visitors over the second and third quarter.
The veteran star insisted after the game that his inspired play was mostly down to being able to rest in the build-up to the playoffs, and it certainly seemed to be a factor.
However, the Raptors have an explosive offensive unit that can heat up at given time, and that was the case in the fourth quarter as Lou Williams and Grievis Vasquez led the comeback with the latter draining a clutch three with 25 seconds remaining to tie the scores at 82-82.
While the momentum was seemingly with Toronto at that point, they couldn’t extend it into overtime as the Wizards controlled it and ultimately secured a comfortable win after the initial scare in regulation.
It is undoubtedly a huge win for Randy Wittman’s team as that now puts the pressure on the Raptors to come back and win Game 2 or face going on the road with the a two-game deficit.
Both Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan struggled for the most part, with the former fouling out early in the fourth as he was forced to watch on anxiously from the bench and was visibly annoyed with himself.
Footage emerged of Bradley Beal waving him goodbye as he left the court after picking up his sixth foul of the game, and so there is likely to be some tension brewing between the two teams ahead of their next meeting.
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