The Washington Wizards completed the first round sweep of the Toronto Raptors with a big win in Washington Sunday night in game four, 125-94 as the Wiz go marching into the second round of the NBA playoffs.
A series full of frustrations for the team from up North concluded Sunday night in DC. Kyle Lowry’s struggles continued early in the game as the Raptors point guard was assessed a technical foul for throwing the ball in the direction of an official.
In a game and series featuring the number four and five seeds in the Eastern Conference, one would expect things to be close to the final whistle. But it was anything but that.
Washington led 20-10 just 6:18 into the game as again Lowry was forced to the bench because of foul trouble as been the story in the three previous games.
The Wizards set the tone with three big wins to open the series and they finished the Raptors off in impressive fashion. Washington led 36-22 after the first quarter and extended that lead to 66-50 at halftime.
The standout man for the Wizards again was Marcin Gortat who scored 21 points, recorded 11 rebounds and added five assists. John Wall put up 14 points and 10 assists, and Bradley Beal scored 23 points.
Toronto’s defence again were unable to contain their opponents down the road. The meltdown continued in the second half as Washington led by as much as 36 points in the third quarter.
This concludes a miserable week for a Raptors team coming off a first round exit at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets a year ago, and the ‘We The North’ movement took another setback.
The Wizards are heading to the second round of the playoffs for the second straight year.