Three Things to Watch: Wizards at Raptors 11/7
By Jesse Jones
Feb 27, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (10) ties the game by scoring on a lay-up late in the first overtime period against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Wizards beat the Raptors 134-129 in triple overtime. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Wizards (4-1) start a two-game road trip Friday night as they travel across the border to take on the 4-1 Toronto Raptors.
Friday night’s game, which tips at 7:30 from the Air Canada Centre, looks to be the toughest match-up of the season thus far for Randy Wittman & Co.
Just as the Wizards, the Raptors sole loss of the young season came on the road to the Miami Heat, when they lost 107-102 on Nov. 2.
Toronto has won two straight since then, with a 100-88 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder and narrowly squeaking by the Boston Celtics on Wednesday with a 110-107 win.
Washington has won four straight since their opening night loss in Miami, most recently avoiding an upset at home to the Pacers with a 96-94 overtime victory.
The Raptors took three-of-four against Washington last year, but dropped the final game of the series at home in triple overtime because of huge nights from Marcin Gortat and John Wall.
Let’s look at three things that the Wizards must do in order to leave our neighbor to the north with a victory.
–All stats gathered in this piece from ESPN.com, Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com