The story was writing itself. The Raptors nearly lost Game 5 against the Wizards IN TORONTO, and it would have spelled doom for a team coming off its best record in franchise history. But that didn’t happen. Instead, Toronto rallied late to pull away with a 108-98 win that gave them a 3-2 series lead.
The Raptors never make it easy on their fans, but they got the job done
Toronto won Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead, but it was a tight game until the final five minutes.
Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
It was a tug of war for most of Game 5. There were 17 lead changes, and no team led by more than seven. But the Raptors got a huge, unexpected boost from their bench. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry combined for 49 points, but Delon Wright came off the bench to put up 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. He scored nine of Toronto’s final 14 points of the game.
Meanwhile, the Wizards nearly got a triple-double out of John Wall (26 points, nine rebounds, eight assists), but Bradley Beal’s uncharacteristically poor 2-of-7 shooting night from three haunted Washington all game long.
The Raptors never make things easy
It looked as if the Wizards were going to grind this thing through until the last few moments. In fact, it was just a one-point game with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Raptors were sloppily handling the ball, and Washington capitalized with 14 points off Toronto turnovers.
It was a game that tested the Raptors. One that left a vibe of unease wafting about the Air Canada Centre. A vibe that felt a whole lot like, “Oh no. Not again.”
But Toronto exploded in those final few minutes. The Raptors finished the night on a 16-7 run, and while the Wizards couldn’t buy a bucket down the stretch, Toronto flourished.
It wasn’t pretty. It rarely is.
The Raptors won Game 1, but they didn’t pull away until midway through the fourth quarter. Sound familiar? And in Game 2, they jumped out to a 44-27 lead after the first quarter, only for that lead to reduce to five with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Toronto pulled out Game 5, but by the skin of their teeth. The series will return to Washington, where the Wizards are undefeated in this series, and if the Raptors lose Game 6, they’ll head back to Canada for Game 7. They’ve been letting these games come too close for comfort; not something one would expect from a No. 1 vs. No. 8 seed first-round matchup. If the Raptors can’t put the Wizards away next game, Game 7 could be a toss-up.
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