Making the Wizards pay for their mistakes
As turnovers go, the Washington Wizards are one of the safer teams in the league, despite their record. They rank tenth in the league for turnovers per game at 14.2, better than the Raptors who sit in 15th at 14.9 turnovers per game.
Unfortunately for the Wizards, they were facing the second-best defense in the NBA, a defense that tore them to pieces. The Wizards accounted for 28 turnovers in the game, while the Raptors had 19. However, the notable difference is what the Raptors were able to do after those turnovers.
The Raptors are second-best in the league for scoring points off opponents turnovers, so what they did against the Wizards certainly wasn’t an anomaly – even if they did outdo themselves by a fair few points.
From those 26 Wizards turnovers, the Raptors were able to put up 30 points and it was the active defense that created those opportunities. Once they’re in their rhythm, the Raptors are a hard team to stop. They can hit you on the fast break, attack the paint, and knock down triples from all over.
As always, though, it stems from the defense. The Raptors had six players with multiple steals in the game, with OG Anunoby topping the board with four.