Paul Pierce announced himself as a major factor in the Washington Wizards' first-round playoff series by antagonizing the Toronto Raptors before and during an overtime Game 1 win at the Air Canada Centre. Pierce is still an unpopular figure, but Torontonians will find no shortage of targets for their ire after a rough Game 2 on Tuesday night.
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Young backcourt stars John Wall and Bradley Beal excelled as the Wizards cruised to a 117-106 win behind several big runs and a relatively weak effort from the host Raptors. Washington now heads back to the Verizon Center for Friday's Game 3 with a 2-0 lead and as many as three home games (plus two more visits back to Toronto) in which to grab two more wins and close out the series. The Raptors are in very big trouble and may now have played their last game at home this season.
The night started well enough for the Raptors, who reversed their poor scoring in Game 1 with 31 first-quarter points and a five-point lead after 12 minutes. Unfortunately for Toronto, their troubles in Game 2 came primarily on the opposite side of the ball, where they especially struggled to contain Wall and Beal, who combined to play 82 minutes. Things got especially bad for the hosts in a 17-4 Wizards run over the final 4:30 of the second quarter that staked them a 60-49 halftime lead. Wall and Beal found success by attacking the rim with extreme prejudice and finding little resistance.
Toronto got to within just two points after a few minutes of the third, but Washington responded with an even more explosive offensive performance and put up 34 points in the final 8:30 to head into the fourth with a 97-75 advantage. Wall continued to dominate the game on his way to finishing with 26 points (8-of-16 FG, 8-of-11 FT) while Beal found plenty of pockets of space for a team-high 28 points (11-of-21 shooting). The story of the game was their ability to attack — the Raptors had no answer and the Wizards not surprisingly shot 53.2 percent from the field (including 10-of-21 on threes) with 34 free-throw attempts.
This combined shot chart for Wall and Beal tells a similar story:
The Raptors cut the deficit to as few as 10 thanks to some nice play from newly crowned Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams, but the threat did not feel especially credible. The minor comeback also came at a cost when starting point guard Kyle Lowry left the game around the 6:00 mark after suffering an injury to his left leg. Take a look at the play here:
Already nursing a bad back, Lowry returned to the bench did not re-enter the game. The All-Star point guard has had little success at the offensive end of late and put up just six points (3-of-10 FG) and four assists in 27 minutes, but it's hard to imagine the Raptors getting back in this series with Lowry unable to play major minutes. Although his plus-9 in Game 2 does not entirely line up with his contributions, the stat does indicate that he defended Wall better than any other Raptor.
No matter Lowry's status, it's tough to see the Raptors taking this series after losing two games at home. They have played few, if any, stretches with simultaneously competent defense and offense and there do not appear to be easy answers. Game 3 suddenly feels like a must-win.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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