(3) Toronto Raptors vs (7) Washington Wizards

 

The Eastern conference semi-finals have arrived! It may only be the 1^st season of the NSL but we have already had history made with a first round upset as the Washington Wizards took down the 2^nd seed Atlanta Hawks 4-1. While their competitor Toronto eliminated the 6^th seed Detroit Pistons 4-0.

 

The season series between Washington and Toronto went in favour of Toronto to the tune of 3-1 in some very close games. Most would predict by those results that Toronto will continue those results in this series but the big difference maker is when Washington’s big man Clint Capela returned from injury and Washington defeated Toronto by 17 points in Washington in the final matchup.

 

Toronto and Washington both have great rosters with players that complement each other’s game well and this is going to be a tight series.

 

Matchups

 

Damian Lillard vs Lonzo Ball

 

Ball coming in after a 13/6/6 with 1.4spg on 45/30/43 will be going up against one of the best scoring point guards in the league in Damian Lillard. Lillard in his series averaged 30/5/8 with 1.3spg on 45/43/94. Dame’s scoring is undeniably tough to match up against however going up against a 6’6 guard that excels on defense and is just as quick laterally may give Dame Nightmares. Lonzo may slow Dame down but Lillard is going to have a huge impact.

 

 

Alec Burks vs Devin Booker

 

Toronto has plenty of options for this position and I assume it will be Holiday but we will just use matchups from the previous round as there is no way to know who will get the Booker matchup. Burks had 8/2/1 with 1.3spg on 42/41/88 and was not used as much in the Raptors offense despite having great efficiency. Booker has been red hot all season but took it to another level again in the 1^st playoff round averaging 32/4/5 with 2.2spg on 47/39/100. Booker is amongst the toughest players to slow down and is the 2^nd best shooting guard in the NSL according to rankings. Booker is going to be the catalyst for Washington as usual and can expect business as usual.

 

 

Joe Ingles vs Gary Harris

 

Ingles has been an integral part of Toronto’s success, an underappreciated two way wing that I have seen shut down Kawhi Leonard in a matchup during the season. Ingles may yet get the Booker matchup. Ingles coming in with averages of 11/3/3 with 1spg on 53/38/100 will have his hands full with Gary Harris another two way guard/wing with great 3 point shooting. Harris coming in with averages of 14/2/4 with 1.4spg on 44/35/75. This matchup will go back and forth all series I can’t pick a winner of the two.

 

 

Nikola Vucevic vs Brandon Clarke

 

Nikola coming into this series with averages of 10/11 with 2.8spg and 1bpg on 43/33/75 Nikola’s numbers are down from his regular season numbers however he had to contest with Adebayo and Gobert down low in the Pistons matchup and should bounce back to have a big series against a rookie forward. Brandon Clarke is heading into his first post season averaging 15/6/2 with 2.6spg on 63/67/63 Clarke is in the running for ROTY and is showing why unreal shooting numbers by the rookie big. However Vucevic is too big for Clarke and will take him down in the post to exploit his size advantage.

 

 

Thomas Bryant vs Clint Capela

 

Thomas Bryant has been a great addition to Toronto with his gamble of trading all his picks for Bryant paying off with Bryant averaging 7/8/1 with 2.3spg and 0.8bpg on 72/100/100 he plays his role perfectly for Toronto will have his hands full with Clint Capela the 2 way rebounding big with averages of 12/12/2 with 0.8spg and 1.2bpg on 73/62. Capela is going to be too big and too strong for Bryant and will be a big part of the outcome of this series.

 

 

The Bench units.

This is where the series will be won and lost for both teams. Both Toronto and Washington have great bench production this clash will be just as fun to watch as the starters will be it will be interesting to see how will Washington slow down the current reigning 6^thMOTY Jrue Holiday.

 

Toronto:

Holiday: 18ppg, 2.8apg, 3.3rpg, 1.5spg on 50/33/62

Fournier: 7.3ppg, 2.5apg, 2.5rpg, 0.5spg, 0.3bpg on 46/38/100

Hollis-Jefferson: 8ppg, 1.3apg, 2.3rpg, 1spg, 0.5bpg on 52/0/80

Wood: 4.8ppg, 0.8apg, 5.8rpg, 0.3spg, 1bpg on 64%

 

Washington:

Knox: 9.6ppg, 1.2apg, 5.2rpg, 2.2spg, 0.2bpg on 40/38/71

Morris: 7.4ppg, 3.4apg, 1.6rpg, 0.8spg on 42/44/100

Bradley: 5.4ppg, 0.8apg, 4.6rpg, 0.2spg, 1bpg on 46/0/38

McDermott: 1.4ppg, 0.4apg, 0.8rpg on 33/20/0

 

Keys to the series.

Toronto – To win the series they just have to spread the offense, Dame will be an obvious target to attempt to lockdown, they will need to be able to spread the offense through their team to put points up if Washington is successful in slowing Dame’s production. Vucevic will need to play a bigger role and be relied on more offensively. To beat Washington they need to slow the rest of the Wizards line-up down. Booker like Dame is going to get his points regardless but if they can stop the rest of the unit it will go a long way to winning the series.

 

Washington – Like Toronto they have a key scorer in Booker they will need to be able to spread the offense more and expose certain matchups, Capela needs to be a bigger part of their offense. Again they need to have the same defensive strategy. Dame gets a lot of his points off of screens which is almost impossible to stop. He will get his points up regardless of matchups. They need to slow down Dame’s help by shutting down the 3 point shooters and stop Vucevic down low to have a chance to win this series.