The Toronto Raptors got off to one of their patented slow starts in Washington, D.C., falling behind by six after Q1. Shots started falling in Q2 and Q3, while the Wizards, except for John Wall, were hitting iron. Toronto’s 12-point margin proved sufficient for the win, despite once again being outscored in Q4.
All game the Raptors offense sputtered and wheezed. But DeMar DeRozan scored 35 points, and the Raptors defended brilliantly. I haven’t done the research but I’ll wager their astonishing 13 blocked shots is a single-game team record. Speaking of eye-popping data, of nine Raptors who hit the floor, seven had at least one block; only Patrick Patterson and Luis Scola went without.