NBA Playoffs: Toronto awaits the Washington Wizards
The 2015 NBA regular season has officially come to a close. You know what that means? Wait… the Playoffs? Don’t talk about the playoffs! You kidding me? The Washington Wizards?
That’s right ladies and gentlemen, the 2015 NBA postseason will begin in a little under two days from now. The very first game of the playoffs will be the very first game of the Wizards postseason, as they and the Toronto Raptors will tip-off the 2015 NBA postseason at 12:30 on Saturday afternoon in Canada.
The Wiz finished the regular season with the same fifth seed that they finished with last year. However, their firs-round opponent will be different this time around. The went up against the Chicago Bulls last year, and handled them in only five games. The Bulls grabbed the third seed in the Eastern Conference this year, with Toronto grabbing No. 4.
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I would likely prefer the Raptors as an opponent over the Bulls just due to the fact that the Bulls have one of the top defenses in the league and have added a couple of good scorers to the team while also having players that have a good amount of postseason experience. The Raptors are very talented, but also just as inexperienced as the Wiz; less if anything.
Starting point guard Kyle Lowry has really made his presence known this year and has helped put the Raptors back on the map. The 29-year-old out of Villanova has averaged 17.8 points and 6.8 assists per game this year, while shooting 34% from long-range. He is also fifth out of all point guards in the league in rebounding, averaging 4.7 per game.
Fellow guard DeMar DeRozan has has helped out quite a bit this year as well. He leads the team with 20.1 points-per-game, and is 14th in the league in that category. He has also grabbed 4.6 rebounds and has dished out 3.5 assist per game.
Those two players have been the cornerstone of this Toronto Raptors team over the last few years, but the role players have helped out as well. Players such as Terrence Ross and Louis Williams have also contributed greatly, along with some others.
The Raptors are a pretty deep and talented team, and this will definitely be a tough task for Washington. John Wall ended the season second in the league in assists only behind Chris Paul, and him spreading the ball out will be the key to the Wizards success.
It all starts a little past noon on Saturday, and Toronto will be awaiting the Wizards arrival at the Air Canada Center.