Round 1, Game 2
Wizards Go Up 2-0
Raptors fall to Wizards in overtime.
-- vs.
Washington 129 - - - Toronto 125
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Box Score ]
The Washington Wizards were stronger throughout the game, but we still needed
an overtime to decide the winner. The Wizards had 4 guys with more than 20 points
while Toronto was led by one man.
Washington was clearly the better half at the half. They led the Raptors 57-48 as
rookie Dwight Howard had already 16 points and 11 rebounds. Toronto's big men
were helpless against the 6'11'' 250 pound 19-year old power forward. Larry Hughes
and Gilbert Arenas had both 12 points and 4 assists at the time. Toronto was led by
Rafer Alston with 14 points and 5 assists but his impact was still to come.
The Wizards held on to their lead until the half-point of the third quarter. Alston went
ballistic nailing 4 consecutive 3-pointers in just 2 minutes. The teams were back at
where they started.
The game evened up and it was a close match. The Wizards made a break just two minutes
before the end of the fourth going up 115- 109. Its seemed to be over but once again it
was Rafer Alston to save the day. He set up Chris Bosh for a 2+1 play and nailed the
game-tying 3-pointer himself with just 18.4 seconds on the clock. Washington took a
timeout to set up their last play. Arenas held the ball for 13 seconds and then passed to
driving Larry Hughes, Hughes went up for the two but he couldn't hit the mid-range
jumper. The teams were tied at 115 and headed into overtime.
Washington controlled the OT all the way and gave the Raptors no chance. Hughes
who missed the game-winning shot was Washington's main force scoring 8 points
in overtime. Alston had not enough support from his teammates and Toronto lost
129-125.
“You can't say that I played selfish ball today,” said Alston later at the press conference.
“I took my shots outside and they we falling in, that gave me confidence to shoot more.
I'd say the cause of the loss is defense. We have allowed the Wizards to score 115 in
48 minutes in two consecutive games.” Larry Hughes felt like he had to lead the team
in OT. “I let the team down by missing that quite open shot at the end of 48 minutes.
There was nothing else to do, i had to contribute.
Ingame Photos
Alston did all that he could to keep his team close. - - - - - -Dwight Howard was an incredible force down low.