NBA Playoffs! Round 1, Game 5: Toronto Raptors 108 - Washington Wizards 98 (TOR 3-2)

[KeonClark]

Hard to tell from one practice jumper.

[tDotted]

The problem isn't offense it's defense. I'd rather have OG play in the 4th over JV.

Scoring only 98 points in a game isn't a problem?

[Nilanka]

Scoring only 98 points in a game isn't a problem?

How about this. It's less of a problem than surrendering 40 pts a quarter.

[KeonClark]

How about this. It's less of a problem than surrendering 40 pts a quarter.

Yeah but the 40 points in the quarter to me was more the bad offense. Turnovers and long rebounds had Washington running. Our 5 on 5 set half court defense was pretty good. Wizards are one of the top 4 or 5 teams that will burn you when they get out and run.

[Nilanka]

Yeah but the 40 points in the quarter to me was more the bad offense. Turnovers and long rebounds had Washington running. Our 5 on 5 set half court defense was pretty good. Wizards are one of the top 4 or 5 teams that will burn you when they get out and run.

How about this. Free OG

[KeonClark]

How about this. Free OG

[planetmars]

The starters played for a good chunk of that 3rd quarter. So that included both JV and OG. JV got subbed out for Miles when the score was 68-66.... and then Delon for Kyle a couple of minutes later.. and then finally Siakam for OG a minute after that.

I guess playing JV and OG more wouldn't have really done much.. because they played quite a bit (about 8+ minutes) and gave up the huge lead.

[KeonClark]

Delon Wright admits he passed up 2 open 3s, and needs to run the sets rather than stand and watch Derozan

Derozan continues admitting he forced bad shots

Derozan has never in my memory been so critical in the media of his own shot selection. I think we come out like gangbusters on Wednesday

[Nilanka]

Delon Wright admits he passed up 2 open 3s, and needs to run the sets rather than stand and watch Derozan

Derozan continues admitting he forced bad shots

Derozan has never in my memory been so critical in the media of his own shot selection. I think we come out like gangbusters on Wednesday

15 point halftime lead. 7 point 4th quarter deficit.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I'll let myself out.

[DanH]

The starters played for a good chunk of that 3rd quarter. So that included both JV and OG. JV got subbed out for Miles when the score was 68-66.... and then Delon for Kyle a couple of minutes later.. and then finally Siakam for OG a minute after that.

I guess playing JV and OG more wouldn't have really done much.. because they played quite a bit (about 8+ minutes) and gave up the huge lead.

The Wizards caught absolute fire from distance. They were hitting all their jumpers. Literally 5/6 (plus got fouled attempting another three) from distance in that stretch where the starters played in the 3rd Q (it was 7 minutes, BTW). Lead was still 3 when they checked out, down from 11. Not great, but hardly a disaster considering how hot the Wizards got. Not like the defence was giving up a tonne of looks either - Wizards only got 3 shots in the paint over that stretch, and took about as many midrangers as three point attempts. Just got hot.

The guys who checked in after some starters checked out gave up just as much defensively, except the Wiz didn't even need to get hot from downtown, because everything was a layup.

Never mind that reacting to a single bad (unlucky) stretch by not playing your best lineup again usually leads to, say, blowing a lead in the 4th quarter and losing a game you should have won.

[JimiCliff]

Any excuse Casey has to not play JV, he takes it. He shows as little confidence in him as you can, without being explicitly hostile. It's ridiculous.

[The Great One]

Delon Wright admits he passed up 2 open 3s, and needs to run the sets rather than stand and watch Derozan

Derozan continues admitting he forced bad shots

Derozan has never in my memory been so critical in the media of his own shot selection. I think we come out like gangbusters on Wednesday

Tired of all the excuses.

You're a veteran team. You've been in the playoffs 4-5 straight years. Stop playing scared for fucks sake.

[KeonClark]

Tired of all the excuses.

You're a veteran team. You've been in the playoffs 4-5 straight years. Stop playing scared for fucks sake.

I wouldn't call them excuses, more reasons why they lost.

Excuses would Be blaming referee or FVV being out. They're owning up to mistakes to correct for game 5

Can't all be as perfect as t rex

[The Great One]

I wouldn't call them excuses, more reasons why they lost.

Excuses would Be blaming referee or FVV being out. They're owning up to mistakes to correct for game 5

Can't all be as perfect as t rex

What can I say, i'm Perfect.

[Mitch P]

After a loss like that 48 hours seems an eternity. Seems as if players, fans and coaches all agree on where the problem lies. I'd like to echo some of you with my frustration that JV and OG in particular get so little playing time in the fourth quarter. That was equally true in the wins.....which might have been by wider margins if they had played more. I don't want to seem troll like but I could see JV in the future on another team (say like the Celtics) playing 35 minutes a game and happily kicking our asses. I would be happy for him. I mean really; Stevens plays Aron Baynes for God's sake.....and quite effectively. I'm new to this forum this season but have been a devoted fan since the Bosh days ( I was too busy coaching during the Carter years). But I'm not sure I can stomach another playoff collapse. It would feel like a LOT of hours were wasted all winter watching the apparently meaningless games and typing into this meaningless forum. Could have spent that time writing a bad novel. But then Frederick Exley already wrote "A Fan's Notes". A great novel.