Toronto Raptors: 6 Revelations for Game 2 victory over Wizards
By Demar Grant
3) The bench mob got mobbed
The Wizards’ bench outscored the famous Bench Mob in Game 2 63 to 41. The Toronto Raptors’ bench is starting to get exposed, being up 2-0 in the series has only masked how poorly Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam have played in the series.
Although Poeltl has been a defensive stalwart for the bench throughout the regular season, he’s spent the past two games (Game 2 especially) getting cooked by Wall and Co.
Wall is a blazing Ferrari on the court and he was able to finish with reckless abandon around the rim. He has every move in the book and Poeltl is a second-year foul prone big.
Offensively, Siakam is on an island.
The Wizards are in the habit of letting Siakam self-destruct with the ball in his hands. Siakam at heart is a passer, whose reluctance to shoot has been rewarded this year in a flow type offence.
But Washington knows that; staying home with the shooters and PSkills is a man without a plan.
The bigs were -10 and -9 respectively on the court and it looks unlikely to get better. Siakam could get a few more run outs or layups and Poeltl could make one or two more stops at the rim, but the Wizards have them mostly figured out.
Siakam and Poeltl’s performance is partially the reason why the bench is underperforming compared to what we’re used to.