It’s Friday and the Toronto Raptors are on the road once again – this time to take on the Washington Wizards. The Raptors (22-14) are coming off a dominant performance Wednesday evening where they defeated the lowly Brooklyn Nets 91-74. The Wizards (15-18) have gone 1-3 since they lost to the Raptors in the last game before the new year. With the Raptors having won already the first two matchups against the Wizards, don’t expect the John Wall and friends to roll over and give Toronto an easy win. Both of the previous matchups have been decided by three points or less.
The Wizards should look like a more complete team with the returns of Nene and Gary Neal who did not play the last time these two teams met. The game tips off at 7:00pm EST.
Cage’s Keys to the Game:
Hit the glass
Washington’s frontline won’t be as thin tonight against the Raptors. In their last matchup, the Raptors dominated the glass 55-44, picking up 15 offensive rebounds in a 3 point victory. Only Marcin Gortat was an effective inside presence for the Wiz as they elected to go small for a majority of the game, however with Nene the Wizards can resort to more traditional line-ups. The type of line-ups that saw the Raptors bounced from the first round in last year’s playoffs.
Next Man Up
With the loss of DeMarre Carroll to arthroscopic knee surgery, the Raptors will once again be at less than full strength. With that being said the likes of Terrence Ross and James Johnson will really need to step it up and play smart basketball for the next two months. James Johnson didn’t play the last time the Raptors played the Wizards, but be sure he’ll get his minutes tonight. With the trickle down from Carroll’s injury, the Raptors may have to dig deep into their bench if they don’t seem ready to hoop. The game against the Nets served as a buffer for tonight’s game; which will be the real first test for Toronto moving forward.
Breaking down the Wall
John Wall has been quite vocal in his discontent with the All-star voting. Last season he accompanied Raptors’ point guard Kyle Lowry in the starting backcourt for the Eastern conference all-star team. However, with his team faltering – Wall has fallen from the grace of being one of the top vote getters. Wall will no doubt get his shots up tonight, however the Raptors need to be cognizant of where they’re allowing him to get his looks. If the Raptors are able to prevent Wall’s drive and kick game, they’ll put themselves in a much better position to come away from this road game with a win.
X-Factor: James Johnson
With the absence of DeMarre Carroll, James Johnson becomes the guy most capable of fulfilling those lock-down defender responsibilities. It’s not Johnson’s stats that are key to his game, it’s his impact every where else on the court that’ll be important. Johnson is the ultimate switcher on the defensive end as his sound instincts allow him to guard virtually any position. As long as he’s not consistently switched onto Gortat, he’ll be able to protect the paint and keep perimeter players at bay.
