Reason No. 2: Head-to-Head success
The Raptors, who face the Wizards on May 6 as the season winds down, have taken them on twice before, and they have come out on top both times. the first meeting in February saw Toronto put up 137 points in a dominant 22-point win. Siakam, who scored 26 points, was one of seven Raptors in double-figures.
Their second meeting of the year was one of the most memorable victories all season for Toronto. Gary Trent Jr. ended up sending the Wizards home with an L that evening, draining a buzzer-beater in a 103-101 win that might as well be the signature moment from his Raptors tenure.
The Toronto Raptors have beaten the Wizards before.
Toronto showed that even with all of the weaponry Washington can deploy at a moment’s notice, they have real issues when it comes to getting stops late in games. With two of their better defenders in Troy Brown Jr. and Moritz Wagner traded at the deadline, that task might get a bit harder, even with Gafford in the middle of the paint.
The Raptors are playing better basketball of late because everyone has finally gotten healthy and Nick Nurse has settled on a consistent rotation. Washington had issues with the beaten-up Raptors, so they might have an even