Washington, D.C–
Story By: Richard Thomas
Photos By: Sol Tucker
If there was a photo next to the word commanding in the dictionary, it would have a photo from tonight’s Game 4 against the Raptors. It would also show a picture of the Raptors laying down and watching the Wizards run over them in 125-94 commanding victory advancing to face either Brooklyn or Atlanta.
The Wizards finished off the Raptors in four games Sunday night to quickly close the first-round Eastern Conference series, getting 21 points and 11 rebounds from Marcin Gortat, and 14 points and 10 assists from John Wall.
Six Wizards scored in double figures, including Bradley Beal with 23 points and Pierce with 14, and that duo made seven of the Wizards’ team playoff-record 15 3-pointers.
“For us to come out and get it in four is good. That means we have a few days here of rest, and to get our bodies back, and get back our focus on who we will have to play. But we were really good tonight, from an offensive and defensive standpoint, and it started with John. He orchestrated us, and his pace was incredible. Our bigs were really good in this series. All the way down the line, our guys were good, said Wizards Head Coach Randy Wittman.”
On the other side of the ball Raptors Head Coach Duane Casey, complimented his guys, but said, “we are a young team and we have some work ahead of us. These guys played a really good basketball team and we will find ways to not just make it to the playoffs in the future.
For the Wizards, the win tonight showcases what this team is capable of on any given night behind any given player. Wall commented on the entire team play and having a few days to relax and focus on the next round.
“It’s great. We want to get to the Eastern Conference Finals, but we just gotta take it one game at a time, each round at a time. It’s great to get this out of the way and get a little bit of rest, while the other guys are playing. We need to make sure we stay in shape and execute our game plan, things like that. It’s exciting. We didn’t finish the season as well as we wanted to and a lot of people didn’t have us favored to win this series because we didn’t beat them in the regular season, but we showed a different mindset and hunger during the playoffs, said Wall.”