That electric feeling I got last season when watching Toronto Raptors games returned on Wednesday night when DeMar DeRozan obliterated Kelly Olynyk. What an incredible way to seal the game by the best back-court in the Eastern Conference.
Tonight, the Raptors will have their hands full with the toughest match-up of the season thus far. John Wall and the Washington Wizards are in town. Last year, the battles between the Wizards and Raptors were always fantastic. Further, the battles between Wall and Kyle Lowry were incredible. Expect to see more between what’s developing into quite the rivalry.
The 4-1 Raps will look to continue their quiet dominance of the Eastern Conference against the 4-1 Wizards. Along with the Chicago Bulls, these two teams currently make up the top of the East. It should be a good one, so buckle up and take a look at the Cage’s Keys to the Game:
Rebound the damn ball
The effort on the glass last game was simply atrocious. The Raps got outrebounded 55-24 by the Celtics. There really isn’t much else to be said.
Jonas Valanciunas and Amir Johnson are both scheduled to return, thus the Raptors will have their two best rebounders back in action. Let’s hope they can right the ship.
Contain John Wall
Although I don’t particularly like John Wall, it’s hard to deny the fact that he is a fantastic offensive point guard. If he gets going, it opens up the game for the rest of the Wizards potent offense that includes threats such as Marcin Gortat and Raptor-fan favorite Paul Pierce. Slow down Wall and the offense will struggle.
Tighten up the ball movement
The field goal percentage hasn’t been particularly high, nor has the assist rate. As great as it was to see Kyle Lowry go for 35 points, it would be even better to get back to making the extra pass, playing in sync, and getting fantastic shots as opposed to forcing heroics upon Lowry or DeRozan.
X-Factor: Tyler Hansbrough
I’m going for the non-conventional pick with this one. Gortat and Nene are a pretty potent front-court, and one that may need to be Psycho-T’d a little bit. I’m going to let you interpret what that means, however if you know anything about Hansbrough, you shouldn’t have any trouble understanding.
