Toronto Raptors vs Washington Wizards: Final — 130-122: Raptors win second in a row

With the stress of the losing streak behind the Toronto Raptors, they headed into their game against the Washington Wizards today without the pressure of making (negative) franchise history.

The win in Milwaukee was not exactly expected, but welcomed. Washington is a completely different team though, and the Raptors came into this one as the favourites to win. The Wizards came into the game with a 15-63 record, one of the only teams in the NBA with maybe a worse fate than Toronto this season.

Luckily, injury report luck was on their side and they were able to start RJ Barrett, Ochai Agbaji, Kelly Olynyk, Gary Trent Jr., and Immanuel Quickley.

The chemistry from Friday oozed into Sunday afternoon as the Raptors kicked off the game with a 20-6 lead over the Wizards. The chemistry between Barrett and Quickley was evident early on, along with Agbaji’s fresh legs after being out a little over a week with a hip injury.

The Raptors made a full team effort to score a whopping 42 points in the first quarter. They were up 42-17 over the Wizards after one.

Kinda weird to be on the winning side of a score like that after the month we’ve had, huh?

The energy dipped a little to start to second quarter as the team went over three minutes without a bucket to start things off. The Wizards took that time to get the game within 15 points.

While Toronto only scored two points in the first half of the second quarter, the Wizards picked up and brought the game within nine points. A three from Jordan Poole brought it within six points.

The Raptors got it somewhat together to end the first half, maintaining their lead and being up 63-50 over the Wizards going into halftime. Trent Jr. and Quickley led scorers for the Raptors with 12 apiece.

The Wizards continued to stay close throughout the entire game, but the Raptors held strong. They had four players score 20+ points, with Immanuel Quickley leading the team in the end with 31 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds and one steal.

Gradey Dick had 13 points, but left the game in the second half with a groin strain and did not return for the remainder. RJ Barrett had 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Gary Trent Jr. had 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Overall it was a full team effort by the squad, against an opponent who just couldn’t overcome them, even depleted. Coach Rajaković commended the Raptors for their ability to stay together as a team despite the hardships.

The star of the game was definitely Quickley, who has grown monumentally in his few months as a Toronto Raptor. The point guard had flourished in his new primary role after being in a back up role with the Knicks, and is proving that the Raptors made the right decision when taking a chance on him.

Darko in particular noted his growth when it came to leadership, being vocal, and his preparation for games. It definitely says a lot that’s he’s been able to make such a leap in ability despite the tough hand the team has been dealt since he arrived on December 30th.

The Raptors have now won two games in a row and will plat their next game and final home game of the season on Tuesday against the Indiana Pacers. Winning three in a row would give them their second three game win streak of the season (#pizzaparty?) but may have implications on their quest to keep their top six pick.

It’ll be interesting to see how that game shakes out, especially since the Pacers coming to town now means seeing Pascal Siakam back at Scotiabank Arena.

We are officially in the home stretch of this rocky Raptors season, with seven days left until the Raptors wrap up their year in Miami next weekend.