Paul Pierce fired the first salvo in the days leading up to Game 1 between the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors, and on Saturday afternoon he backed up his words as well.
After calling out the Raptors for not having “It,” Pierce proved to be prophetic. Toronto struggled all day on the offensive end – sunk in great part by the combined 15 of 57 from Terrence Ross (3 of 11), DeMar DeRozan (6 of 20), Kyle Lowry (2 of 10), and Lou Williams (4 of 16). And the Raptors were hammered on the glass as well; Washington grabbed 61 total rebounds.
Pierce led all scorers in the game with 20 points on 7 of 10 shooting – adding 4 rebounds and a steal as well.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less than what Pierce brought to the table today,” said Williams. “He’s very accomplished in this league. You still have to guard him at a high level. He’s made shots like that for as long as I’ve been in the league and that’s 10 years at this point.
“We have to do a better job at minimizing those catch and shoots he gets.”
Pierce had 15 points through three quarters but Toronto managed to put the clamps on him in the fourth, holding the veteran forward scoreless in eight-plus minutes in the final frame. However, Pierce opened overtime with a three-pointer that proved to be the difference as the Wizards outscored the Raptors in the extra session, 11-4, en route to a Game 1 road win.
“He was really big,” said Wizards head coach, Randy Wittman. “I thought the shot he hit to start overtime was a big momentum (changer) … what hasn’t he been involved in? I talked to you guys (the media) about his presence with this team and what he does and we saw that tonight.”
“(Paul) was hyping us up; he was hyping us up a lot,” said Wizards guard Bradley Beal. “Whenever he gets himself going there is no turning back, and then he just gets the team going. He goes up to you individually and he instils confidence within you and that is what a great leader does.”
After the game, Pierce let it be known that he was happy to embrace the role of “villain” in this series for the Toronto fan base but he added that he has a ton of respect for the crowd – and noise – north of the border. He said the Raptors’ faithful are among the best and loudest he’s ever had to deal with.
But the outcome of this game was about far more than Paul Pierce. Toronto’s defence held Washington to just over 39 per cent from the floor. It was finishing plays. It was offensive rebounds (19-10 for the Wizards) and second-chance points. It was decision-making. All of that did in the Raptors.
“They had 20 second-chance points. That’s the game,” said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. “It’s not just our big guys, it’s everybody. We start watching when a shot goes up. We have to get in and clean up the boards. We know that.
“Until we make it a priority it’s going to be hard for us.”
Toronto is now 0-7, all-time, in game one of a first-round series. But the Raptors – as a whole – were careful to not present a doom-and-gloom scenario for the remainder of the series, in spite of giving up home-court advantage to Washington with this loss.
“There’s still a lot of basketball to be played,” said Casey. “It’s not over.”
Added Lowry: “It’s one game and it’s a long series. They (Washington) still have to win three more. We just have to go back, concentrate, and make the adjustments that need to be made.”