NBA Playoffs! Round 1, Game 4: Toronto Raptors 98 - Washington Wizards 106 (TIED 2-2)

[JimiCliff]

DeMar is definitely falling on the sword here more than I’ve ever heard.

— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) April 23, 2018

[Puffer]

DeMar is definitely falling on the sword here more than I’ve ever heard.

— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) April 23, 2018

So he should. Now go watch the game tape to ingrain it in your brain. Then never play that way again.

[JimiCliff]

So he should. Now go watch the game tape to ingrain it in your brain. Then never play that way again.

He forced some shots, and so did Kyle. But it was also painfully clear that Ibaka and Delon were petrified of shooting the ball. And on offence, Yak is pretty much a garbage man, so he obviously isn't going to generate any shots. So it's kinda like, what were they (Demar and Kyle) supposed to do? It wasn't totally on them.

JV had some issues yesterday, but he wouldn't be afraid to shoot at the end of a game. I don't think OG would either.

[golden]

Casey has always been a weak link, but he's not the one turning the ball over 18 times a game the past two games, after averaging 13 during the regular season.

He's also not the one letting Wall/Beal combine for 58 and 56 points after averaging 42 during the regular season.

I am the last guy to come to Casey's defense, but this is bigger than just Casey. Our leaders have got to set the tone.

I agree to some extent, but your coach is supposed to be that calm, cool & collected tactician giving guidance to the players who sometimes lose the script because they are deep in the heat of battle, and full of emotion.

Casey is the front-runner for coach of the year, which means he's been the best coach in the NBA this year. These type of games would be a great time to prove that he's more than just a genial culture builder.

[Nilanka]

The lack of timely timeouts is just baffling. I don't get it.

[GLF]

Wall and Beal are just better than Demar and Kyle. It's as simple as that. They showed in 2015 and they are showing it again now. Never wanted to play Washington but I kept quiet because I didn't want to here you guys get at me for being negative. They step up in the playoffs and we crumble and go right back to being the Raptors of old which I always feared. Also what the fuck happened to our top 5 defence huh? Fucking pretenders man.

Any one who didn't think Casey would lose us a few games was dreaming. And yea Fred won't save us mostly because he will be rusty and probably not 100%. I bet you he comes back for Game 5 which only tells me we're panicking and rushing him back. Raptors are losing this series. Mark my words. But either way it's going to 7 games in my opinion, meaning if they win it will be barely and once again the Lebrons will blow us out like they always do. But I truly don't think we will have the pleasure of playing the Lebrons. It's so sad to see because we are by far the better overall team when we're playing like we did in the first 2 games and the regular season. Sucks that Casey and reverting back to our old habits will lose us this series. Oh and our lack of defence.

[slaw]

I'm glad Demar took blame but look: WSH scored as many points in the third quarter as they did in the ENTIRE FIRST HALF. Yeah, the offense went sideways in the 4th quarter (no question) but what the fuck happened to the defense!? You can't let Beal just go nuts. That concerns me more than the offense. I think they'll bounce back at home on that end of things (they've proven they can score on the Wizards) but I'm starting to get concerned about the defensive lapses over entire quarters.... game 3 was the same story giving up a 39-spot. That has to stop.

[suspenders]

He forced some shots, and so did Kyle. But it was also painfully clear that Ibaka and Delon were petrified of shooting the ball. And on offence, Yak is pretty much a garbage man, so he obviously isn't going to generate any shots. So it's kinda like, what were they (Demar and Kyle) supposed to do? It wasn't totally on them.

JV had some issues yesterday, but he wouldn't be afraid to shoot at the end of a game. I don't think OG would either.

Yep - Delon had wide open shots, numerous times, and didn't want to shoot at all. Who else was going to shoot the ball? Demar & Kyle.

Oh well.

[GLF]

I'm glad Demar took blame but look: WSH scored as many points in the third quarter as they did in the ENTIRE FIRST HALF. Yeah, the offense went sideways in the 4th quarter (no question) but what the fuck happened to the defense!? You can't let Beal just go nuts. That concerns me more than the offense. I think they'll bounce back at home on that end of things (they've proven they can score on the Wizards) but I'm starting to get concerned about the defensive lapses over entire quarters.... game 3 was the same story giving up a 39-spot. That has to stop.

Exactly! I'm way more worried about the defence than the offence. We are having too many of those quarters where we can't get a single stop and then it bleeds into our offence. Turnovers definitely isn't helping that though. Can't get stops when you're letting a guy as fast as Wall get in transition

[CalgaryRapsFan]

After such a good start to the series, the return of hero-ball and questionable coaching decisions has been extremely frustrating to watch. I really thought the horrendous performance in game 3 was going to wake the team up, yet it was more of the same (turnovers, selfish play, bad coaching) in game 4.

I hope some home cooking does the trick, as another first round defeat would be demoralizing for this core.

[Scraptor]

I hope some home cooking does the trick, as another first round defeat would be demoralizing for this core.

Demoralizing is a gross understatement. Apocalyptic seems about right haha.

[KeonClark]

I'm glad Demar took blame but look: WSH scored as many points in the third quarter as they did in the ENTIRE FIRST HALF. Yeah, the offense went sideways in the 4th quarter (no question) but what the fuck happened to the defense!? You can't let Beal just go nuts. That concerns me more than the offense. I think they'll bounce back at home on that end of things (they've proven they can score on the Wizards) but I'm starting to get concerned about the defensive lapses over entire quarters.... game 3 was the same story giving up a 39-spot. That has to stop.

Turnovers and missed shots. Washington got out and ran, and the Raptors were on their heels

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Demoralizing is a gross understatement. Apocalyptic seems about right haha.

I was trying to stay positive... didn't want to point out how good the 76ers are looking... haha

In all seriousness, if the Raptors blow this series, at the very least Casey and Lowry have to go. The team would need a fresh start, and Lowry is a shell of his former self. I'd be happy getting a new leader in and turning the reins over to VV & Wright. I don't think the entire team would need to be blown up though, but they'll never truly change if the Casey/Lowry/DeRozan core stays together.

That being said, they are the superior team in this series and they should have bene able to put the Wizards away in 5 games. I still think they will win this series. Who knows, maybe doing so in 6 games, with the clinching game being won on the road in Washington, will give the team the confidence boost they need as they head into round 2.

[slaw]

He forced some shots, and so did Kyle. But it was also painfully clear that Ibaka and Delon were petrified of shooting the ball. And on offence, Yak is pretty much a garbage man, so he obviously isn't going to generate any shots. So it's kinda like, what were they (Demar and Kyle) supposed to do? It wasn't totally on them.

JV had some issues yesterday, but he wouldn't be afraid to shoot at the end of a game. I don't think OG would either.

Not sure why OG isn't playing at all in the fourth quarter. He's been good when he's been out there. I thought Casey rode Poeltl way to long yesterday. He played well but he was exhausted. It didn't help that Miles was awful cause they could have used him in the fourth. It really did look like 2017 where the supporting case was frozen and it was the Derozan show.....

Credit to WSH, though. I thought they did a good job of denying the escape valves for Lowry and Derozan and made them take some tough, contested shots. There were a few times where it looked like a layup and a WSH big got over and challenged.

[The Great One]

He forced some shots, and so did Kyle. But it was also painfully clear that Ibaka and Delon were petrified of shooting the ball. And on offence, Yak is pretty much a garbage man, so he obviously isn't going to generate any shots. So it's kinda like, what were they (Demar and Kyle) supposed to do? It wasn't totally on them.

JV had some issues yesterday, but he wouldn't be afraid to shoot at the end of a game. I don't think OG would either.

This.

Plus, Ibaka kept turning the ball over left and right. He looked scared out there.