Toronto Raptors: 6 Revelations from Game 3 loss to Wizards
By Demar Grant
The Toronto Raptors fall in embarrassing fashion to the Washington Wizards in a 19-point loss, which cut their series lead 2-1.
Nobody said it was going to be easy. Would I have liked for the Toronto Raptors to sweep the Wizards? Of course.
The memory of 2015 is fresh in everyone’s mind but sweeps are hard, especially against teams with this much talent. A 3-0 deficit is a deathknell in the NBA playoffs and the Wizards laughed in its face.
Welcome to the third playoff edition of Raptors Revelations. We’re 6, because, you know, Toronto… Drake… Raptors… It’s gonna be fun so strap in.
These are the sobering, snarky or dare I say, smart thoughts that stick with me when I watch Raptors games. These are the revelations.
1. The Raptors Need Steady Freddy
Despite the Raptors’ largish victory in Game 2 the ever resilient bench got worked and outscored 63 to 41 and the trend continued in Game 3. The bench mob has been outscored by the Wizards reserves, 119-113. And after combining for a minus-64 in Game 3, the Raptors bench is now minus-109 through the first three games of the series.
The defense is porous, the offense is stagnant and the youth is rearing its ugly head. Really, the team misses the ever Steady Freddy. Dwane Casey is being forced to use Norman Powell with the usual bench mob or Lorenzo Brown and it’s starting to look really ugly.
Fred VanVleet brings an unmistakable calmness to a Raptors bench that is stacked with young talent. The man is also a primary ball handler and a 41 percent 3-point shooter in a bench unit that’s secretly devoid of 3-point shooting outside of C.J. Miles.
Someone needs to be the adult in the room and Powell is not that, especially since he’s one of the youngest players on the roster.