Game TWENTY FOUR, Wizards @ Raptors, 6 PM EST

[slaw]

Great first half and a solid effort from all the guys in the second half to stop any comebacks. I can’t offhand recall a game where Pascal was that dominant - feels like it has been awhile.

I continue to think there is enough on this bench but you can’t give them 3 minutes and bench guys. They all got more run tonight and the group looked very good.

[LJ2]

Can't wait to see what the offense looks like when Gary's shot start dropping.

[golden]

We flexed the 6-9 lineup and it looked promising. Boucher stuck with Harrell and we switched Siakam, Barnes, Yuta and Banton, with no overhelping. Wizards looked legit rattled and couldn’t even get a shot off. That’s the vision right there.

[planetmars]

Great defensive effort.. first quarter was awesome. Not a lot of over helping. Bigs stayed in position. Precious and Pascal were both really sharp. Trent was aggressive. We closed out on shooters well. There was a second quarter blip. Washington scored 30, but I suspect most of that was against the bench.. who were awesome. First great bench performance. 34 points from the bench. 14 alone from Boucher who played like did last year. Still can't really shoot though as all his points seemed to come off dunks and layups. Only 1/3 from the line. No 3's.

The Banton/Barnes/Yuta trio were fun. Yuta seemed to have a bit more energy. I believe it was Japanese night or something since Rui was supposed to be there as well.

Pascal was really aggressive offensively early and got to the line a lot. He became a facilitator more so in the second half. Not sure why, but Pascal always kills the Wizards. Maybe it's because they don't have great defenders for him. Barnes only had 11 points.. he needs more than 10 shots. Especially if he's not taking 3's or getting to the line. Fred was really quiet. But he wasn't needed.

Wished we won by over 20.. but will take the 12 point drubbing. Felt like a complete win. Buzzer to buzzer. Don't remember the last time I felt comfortable sitting through an entire Raptor game. Never felt like we were going to lose... even when the Wizards were coming back in that 3rd quarter.

[MixxAOR]

Once Khem and OG come back this defense will probably go back to Top 10.

[A.I]

We flexed the 6-9 lineup and it looked promising. Boucher stuck with Harrell and we switched Siakam, Barnes, Yuta and Banton, with no overhelping. Wizards looked legit rattled and couldn’t even get a shot off. That’s the vision right there.

That lineup will work well when Boucher is on his game like tonight. He had nice chemistry going with Banton, he made timely cuts, made his shots and played with energy. It becomes a lot harder when the C isn't cutting or rolling properly.

I'm talking offensively mainly. Defensively, all 5 of them are tall and long. Tough to deal with.

[LJ2]

Meh, gotta see how Raps do against a legit contender. Wiz aren't as good as their early record would indicate and they're starting to show they are frauds. Win is a win but I didn't feel like we learned anything new about this team.

[Dvdvideo]

I'll take any win happily with all our current injuries.

[saints91]

Great game last night. We have a good chance to win the next three. Gotta take care of business.

[DanH]

Well that was a fun game!

The defence! How I have missed it! Early on (less so later as we let up a bit with the lead), guys were on a string in a way we haven't quite seen all year. If we're getting something close to that moving forward, that would be very, very good.

Basically everybody played pretty well, I was very happy with that performance. And so many fun little highlights - starting with Fred setting the tone with some Globetrotter stuff early in the game. Precious burst to the rim for a dunk after an OREB on the perimeter. Lots of fun Dalano and Barnes combinations. Trent had a few nice little plays including a beauty of a tip pass in the air from under the rim. And Pascal was just unguardable, only settled a little bit late but the whole team was just counting down the clock at that point (which Nick was smart to recognize and sub in the deep bench even with only an 11 point lead and over a minute left).

[golden]

Once Khem and OG come back this defense will probably go back to Top 10.

We were closing out under control and not the wild aggression we have seen in the past, which kept guys mostly in front of their man. Let our elite defenders slide their feet and disrupt with their length. And we just did basic switching off screens and stayed man-to-man, especially the all 6'9 lineup. Wizards were definitely shook.

The other thing is that, on offense, Boucher isn't dribbling the ball up the floor anymore. He's immediately handing it off to an established ball-handler in the backcourt. And Precious isn't trying to score the ball every possession and he's also handing off more often. These 2 guys have acknowledged their limitations.

Nurse is dialing down the aggression/freedom on both ends, which has been shooting ourselves in the foot. That's what a lot of us have been hoping for.

[DanH]

We were closing out under control and not the wild aggression we have seen in the past, which kept guys mostly in front of their man. Let our elite defenders slide their feet and disrupt with their length. And we just did basic switching off screens and stayed man-to-man, especially the all 6'9 lineup. Wizards were definitely shook.

The other thing is that, on offense, Boucher isn't dribbling the ball up the floor anymore. He's immediately handing it off to an established ball-handler in the backcourt. And Precious isn't trying to score the ball every possession and he's also handing off more often. These 2 guys have acknowledged their limitations.

Nurse is dialing down the aggression/freedom on both ends, which has been shooting ourselves in the foot. That's what a lot of us have been hoping for.

I wonder how much of that was intentional, overdo it in the early part of the season to get the help instincts and scoring attitude ingrained in the less experienced players, then slowly dial it back (especially as we get other guys back in the lineup).

Could also just be guys learning - Precious in particular got sent to the bench for a while after being completely out of control early in the season and seems to have tightened up on both ends as a result.

[golden]

I wonder how much of that was intentional, overdo it in the early part of the season to get the help instincts and scoring attitude ingrained in the less experienced players, then slowly dial it back (especially as we get other guys back in the lineup).

Could also just be guys learning - Precious in particular got sent to the bench for a while after being completely out of control early in the season and seems to have tightened up on both ends as a result.

For sure guys are always learning, especially a relatively young team. But it does feel like Nurse is/was consciously pushing the envelope early to see what guys can actually do and who he can count on. That also builds trust with his players, like: "See...I gave you guys the opportunities to show your stuff." I mean, in the playoffs it's not uncommon to see Nurse dial it way back the other way... to a 6-7 man rotation. Method behind the madness.

[MixxAOR]

Their execution is getting better. They work on defense every day according to Boucher. So they are starting to get Nurses' schemes. Takes a while but they get it eventually.

[Puffer]

...Precious in particular got sent to the bench for a while after being completely out of control early in the season and seems to have tightened up on both ends as a result.

I have heard or read transcripts of both Precious and Boucher acknowledging that watching game tape helped them understand better the things they need to to and the things they needed to avoid. Obviously watching with guidance from assistant coaches. But seeing yourself making a mistake and understanding alternative actions must be a big stepping stone towards improved performance. It takes time to change habits. I think they are both getting there.