The Toronto Raptors continue to be one of the most bipolar teams in the NBA, as a month of March in which they totaled one victory has been followed by a fantastic April that has them back in the playoff hunt. They are joined in this unique schizophrenic club by the Washington Wizards, who are right in the thick of things after winning seven consecutive games.
Among the teams that Toronto will have to fend off to make it to the postseason, Washington might be the most deadly, as their backcourt consists of a scoring champion and automatic 30 points per night in Bradley Beal and a future Hall of Fame point guard in Russell Westbrook.
Injuries and a lackluster defense have limited Washington, as Thomas Bryant was lost early in the season, rookie first-rounder Deni Avdija is out for the year after a frightening ankle injury, and Rui Hachimura has missed time with sore knees. However, this team has hit its stride at the right time, which could be a disaster for Toronto.
As daunting as Washington looks right now, Toronto shouldn’t be petrified of them, as they have more than enough weapons to give the Wizards fits in the postseason. In fact, this team is better than Washington, top to bottom.
Raptors and Wizards win so Bulls drop to 12th. And Pacers won so they moved higher up in 9th.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 22, 2021
3 reasons why Toronto Raptors will overtake the Wizards
Reason No. 1: Superior Frontcourt Depth
Do you know how bad your frontcourt has to be for a group consisting of Khem Birch, Freddie Gillespie, and Aron Baynes to clearly be superior? The Wizards didn’t replace Bryant in the best fashion, scooping up Alex Len, who was so putrid with Toronto that they chose Baynes over him, to start at center with Robin Lopez and Daniel Gafford backing them up.
Even if Hachimura was fully healthy, his scoring skill isn’t up to the caliber of Pascal Siakam, who should have little trouble scoring at least 20 points when matched up with the former Gonzaga star. Washington’s troubles on the floor this season start and end in the paint, and Toronto could take advantage of that.
The Toronto Raptors have better big men than the Wizards.
The Raptors don’t have Tim Duncan and David Robinson on the interior, but they do have a couple of very strong young guys who can outmuscle Len and Lopez for rebounds while finishing close looks after the defense vacates the area thanks to Toronto’s parade of shooters. With this new-look lineup, Toronto should be more robust down low than they were earlier in the year.
Make no mistake, Washington is not going to entrust their group of bigs to either take over the scoring load or be in charge of stopping Toronto’s shooters. However, rebounding and defense could be the X-factor in a matchup of two very even teams, and the Raptors have the edge in this category.