• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Wall, Beal shine as Wizards top Raptors for 2-0 lead

Apr 22, 2015 - 5:08 AM Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - John Wall was at his very best on Tuesday, tallying 26 points and 17 assists and the fifth-seeded Washington Wizards stunned the Toronto Raptors 117-106 to take a commanding 2-0 series lead in their first-round matchup.

Bradley Beal scored a playoff career-high 28 points and Marcin Gortat added 16 and eight boards for the Wizards, who shot 53.2 percent and posted a dominant 45-28 advantage on the boards.

"John and I didn't play well in the first game," said Beal. "Our biggest thing is that we have to be more physical, we have to hit them first."

The Wizards finished the regular season 17-24 on the road, but the playoffs have told a different story over the past two seasons. With this win, they improved to 7-1 in their last eight postseason games away from home.

"It's hard winning four games in a series," said Wizards coach Randy Wittman. "And we only have two, so there's a lot of basketball to be played."

DeMar DeRozan and Lou Williams, who was named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year on Monday, paced Toronto with 20 points apiece.

Game 3 is set for Friday at Verizon Center.

Toronto trailed by 11 at halftime and 12 after Paul Pierce split a pair of free throws 15 seconds into the second, when Terrence Ross bookended a 12-2 run with 3-pointers.

The Wizards called a timeout with their lead down to 63-61 and completely flipped the script out of the huddle, scoring the game's next 10 points. They ended any hopes of a comeback with another flurry at the end of the quarter.

Wall jumpstarted what ended up being 16 points in just over two minutes with a three-point play, plus a technical free throw. Ramon Sessions, Wall, Drew Gooden and Otto Porter all hit from deep on the next four possessions, and the Wizards took a 97-75 lead into the fourth.

Toronto had it down to 10 with a Greivis Vasquez trey at 3:23, but the margin never dipped into single digits.

The Raptors scored the game's first seven points and led from there until midway through the second quarter, when Wall found Nene for a dunk that tied it. Kyle Lowry picked up his second and third fouls within 10 seconds of one another a few minutes earlier and had to sit the rest of the half, leading to a Washington run.

"We had the pace we wanted," said Raptors coach Dwane Casey. "I thought the change of the game was the second quarter. They ran us. That was the difference in the game."

The Wizards trailed by six when Lowry went to the bench, then used a 10-4 flurry to knot it at 39. Toronto went back up by two on two Jonas Valanciunas free throws at 4:33, but a Beal triple at the other end ignited a 13-0 run. Wall had two field goals and two assists during the surge.

Beal scored the last four points of the half, giving him 20 and the Wizards a 60-49 advantage.

Lowry finished with just six points and four assists before leaving late in the game with a left ankle injury.

Game Notes

The Wizards won Game 1, 93-86 ... Valanciunas and Patrick Patterson scored 15 points apiece for Toronto ... Williams shot 10-for-10 from the foul line.