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Raptors vs. Wizards Preview: Game 1

Game Day: Game 1, Raptors vs. Wizards

Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com

The Toronto Raptors kick off their 2015 post-season campaign against the Washington Wizards at Air Canada Centre. NOTE EARLY START TIME: 12:30 P.M. ET (TSN, ESPN).

Projected Starting Lineups:

Raptors: Kyle Lowry (G), DeMar DeRozan (G), Terrence Ross (F), Amir Johnson (F), Jonas Valanciunas (C)

Wizards: John Wall (G), Bradley Beal (G) Paul Pierce (F) Nene Hilario (F), Marcin Gortat (C)

Game Notes

- The Raptors swept the season series against the Wizards, 3-0.

- Toronto was ousted in the first round during last year’s postseason after losing Game 7 against the Brooklyn Nets in heartbreaking fashion, as a Kyle Lowry floater was blocked by current Wizards forward Paul Pierce at the buzzer.

- The Wizards made it out of the first round in 2014, defeating the Chicago Bulls in five games before losing to the Indiana Pacers in six games.

- Key matchup: Lowry/DeRozan vs. Wall/Beal

This is a series that features two very solid backcourts. Lowry and Wall were both voted as Eastern Conference All-Star starters in February. Wall averaged 17.6 points and 10 assists per game for the Wizards. Lowry averaged 17.8 points and 6.8 assists for the Raptors. Joining Lowry is DeMar DeRozan who was a first-time All-Star last season and could have repeated had he not missed 21 games with an injury. Joining Wall is Bradley Beal, a third-year guard who is still just 21 years old.

DeRozan has been playing the best basketball of his six-year career over the past six weeks and comes into the game one day after being named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month. He averaged 24.1 points, 4.7 assists and 3.7 rebounds in April while shooting 49 per cent from the floor. Beal averaged 15.3 points a game and shot nearly 41 per cent from beyond the arc this season. He played in just one of three meetings between these teams during the regular season, an overtime victory for the Raptors on Washington’s home court. 

"[Their backcourt is] a huge challenge,” said Lou Williams this week. “Obviously they play with a lot of energy. I’ve read comments where they felt like they’re one of the best backcourts in the league. I feel like we have one of the best backcourts in the league, so it’s going to be a very entertaining series, very exciting, but we just gotta do a good job of just containing all of the fast break points they like to do, all of the transition 3s that Beal likes to get, and we like our chances.”

- Get Up Bird: You’ve probably noticed the Raptors bench wildly flapping their arms prior to the jump ball of recent games. What began as a gesture of encouragement for Jonas Valanciunas as he prepares for tip-off has turned into a pre-game ritual. Landry Fields tweeted to fans on Friday afternoon, inviting them to join in.

- Pierce prepares Wizards for ACC crowd: John Wall spoke with media in Washington and shared Pierce’s assessment of playoff crowds at Air Canada Centre:

“He already told us that’s probably the best atmosphere he’s played in throughout his whole life, playing basketball in the NBA, his career," Wall said. "So it’s going to be very exciting. He said it’s loud. We already know they’re going to be very intense talking junk to him because he blocked the last shot last year.”

- Coach Casey ready to go: Raptors head coach Dwane Casey was asked how he felt with less than 24 hours to go until his team tipped off their postseason. 

“I feel good,” Casey said. “I wish I could play Randy Wittman one-on-one, or whoever. It doesn’t matter.

“I feel the same way I felt last year, the same as I felt in Dallas, the same as I felt in Seattle,” Casey continued. “I felt prepared, ready to go, fired up. It doesn’t matter how I feel, it matters how those 15 guys in the locker room feel.”

- Lowry confident in lessons learned: Kyle Lowry was asked about the importance of playoff experience and said it’s difficult to understand to magnitude of being in a Game 7 until you go through it. He believes last season’s playoff appearance will aid the team in understanding what it takes to be successful in the playoffs.

“Last year was a great stepping stone because we were in the playoffs against a veteran physical team, a well-prepared team,” Lowry said. “I think that helped us coming into this year. We know that Washington's going to be physical and we're going to be physical from the jump.”