Looking to take advantage of the team with the worst record in the league, the visiting Toronto Raptors wrap up a three-game road trip on Friday against the lowly Washington Wizards.
The upstart Raptors sit as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference in the way-too-early postseason picture, but have dropped eight of their last 12 games. Toronto snapped a brief two-game losing streak with a 112-91 victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday. The Raptors have surrendered less than 100 points in back-to-back outings for just the second time this season.
“This was a very important game for us,” Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic said on Tuesday. “Obviously very important to win, and to have all the guys contribute, that’s a recipe for us. We always talk about (how) we need everybody, that all the guys need to step up and be stars in their roles.”
In the absence of RJ Barrett – who hasn’t played since Nov. 23 as he deals with a right knee sprain – Brandon Ingram’s 21.7 points per game and Scottie Barnes’ 19.3 ppg clip have keyed the Raptors’ strong start to the season as they look to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
“Right now, we’re exactly where we want to be,” Rajakovic said. ” … This group of guys has a lot of resiliency. As an organization, if somebody told us before the season that going into Christmas break, we would be 18-13, we would sign up for all of that. We’re really excited (about) where this team is going.”
Washington, meanwhile, is on pace to post the worst winning percentage in franchise history (.179). The Wizards own the second-worst scoring defense in the NBA (126.1 points allowed per game), only better than the Utah Jazz’s 127.4. Washington also possesses the worst average point differential in the league (13.5).
For head coach Brian Keefe, small victories are necessary, including the return to action for third-year forward Bilal Coulibaly. Prior to the Wizards’ 126-109 road loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday, Coulibaly had missed six of the last seven games with an ankle sprain.
The 21-year-old contributed 14 points in the loss, and Keefe knows he’ll need to rely on Coulibaly’s efforts moving forward.
“I thought (Bilal) was good,” Keefe said. “He was screening for guys. He got guys open shots. You saw the offensive rebounding, and then hitting timely shots when he was open. I thought he was aggressive. All positives for him (on Tuesday). That wasn’t our issue at all.”
Coulibaly, who averaged 12.3 points per game a year ago, is scoring 8.8 ppg this season. Veteran guard CJ McCollum, 34, leads the Wizards with 18.6 ppg, followed by Alex Sarr’s 18.3 points and team-high 8.6 rebounds per contest.
Since they met in the first round of the 2018 playoffs, Toronto has won 20 of 25 games against Washington, including a 140-110 drubbing of the Wizards on Nov. 21. Barrett and Ingram led the way with 24 points apiece in the win.
–Field Level Media
