The NBA playoffs are here! The Wizards open the postseason north of the border against the Toronto Raptors, tipping off at 5:30 p.m. Eastern.
On Thursday, Washington announced that forward Mike Scott is going through concussion protocol and that the team had signed veteran guard Ty Lawson for the playoffs. Friday, the league suspended Wizards sharpshooter Jodie Meeks for 25 games for violating the terms of the NBA-National Basketball Players Association anti-drug program, meaning he will be ineligible for postseason play.
We will have live coverage throughout Game 1, wrapping up the best moments, so keep checking this story as we update it.
Can the Wizards shake off a bad ending to the regular season and steal Game 1? Could they swipe the entire series from the No. 1 seed? Talk to us in the comments!
Game information
Washington Wizards (No. 8 seed, 43-39, 2nd in Southeast Division) at Toronto Raptors (No. 1 seed, 59-23, 1st in Atlantic Division)
Date and time: Saturday, 5:30 p.m.
Channel: NBC Sports Washington and ESPN
Location: Air Canada Center
Regular season series: Wizards 2, Raptors 2
Remaining schedule
Game 2: Tuesday, at Toronto, 7 p.m., NBCSW+ and NBA TV
Game 3: Friday at Washington, 8 p.m., NBCSW and ESPN2
Game 4: Sunday, April 22, at Washington, 6 p.m., NBCSW and TNT
Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, April 25, at Toronto, time TBD, NBCSW
Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, April 27, at Washington, time TBD, NBCSW
Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, April 29, at Toronto, time and television TBD
Pregame reading
>> Anyone expecting Wizards guards John Wall and Bradley Beal to preview their first-round tilt against the Raptors by proclaiming themselves as “the best backcourt in the NBA” will be disappointed. Washington’s duo holds their northern rivals’ Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan in high esteem.
>> While Toronto is the East’s top seed, the Wizards are still attempting to complete the task of finding themselves, which might be a greater challenge than the daunting opponent, writes Jerry Brewer.
, Tim Bontemps writes of Raptors-Wizards, “I want to pick Washington to win this series. The Wizards match up well with Toronto and have shown no fear for them this season … But it’s just impossible to put that much faith in this Wizards team after the way they’ve played this season.” He says it’s Toronto in seven games.
>> Though they’re the underdogs, the Wizards view a matchup with Toronto much more favorably than some of the other teams with lower seeds. And while the Wizards struggled all season with under .500 teams, just as they did on Wednesday in the loss to the Magic, they knocked off nine playoff-bound opponents after the all-star break. They also split the regular-season series with Toronto, players reasoned, and five-time all-star John Wall didn’t play a second in the four games.
>> Bradley Beal reached a personal milestone, playing all 82 games of the regular season. It’s the first time in his six years as a professional that he can claim the Iron Man distinction. But here’s the downside of the 82-game distinction: Beal enters the postseason having logged more minutes than any playoff-bound Washington player since 2008.
>> The Wizards’ struggles over the last couple weeks of the regular season were cause for much hand-wringing in Washington. Coach Scott Brooks used words like “selfish” and “embarrassing.” Among the possible reasons for the slide? Teams figuring out the sets Brooks ran when Wall was sidelined, according to one NBA scout. “If you run the same things week in and week out and those things don’t change, those become stale,” said the scout, who saw the Wizards several times both with and without Wall. “The league doesn’t take that long to adjust to that.”
>> Speaking of Brooks labeling the Wizards, he has often used the word “unacceptable” to describe his team’s play. Actually, we compiled all the times Brooks and Beal said that very word.
>> John Wall returned from his injury and resumed his all-star status by averaging a double-double in points and assists. But Wall and his Wizards teammates are trying to rekindle their chemistry of the past, and their efforts have produced moments of miscommunication.
>> You see it before every game: A double tap, a head bob, a floor brush. Here are the Wizards’ pregame handshakes, explained.
>> Regular season success isn’t foreign to the Raptors, who have exceeded 50 wins each of the past two seasons. But in the postseason, the Raptors have clammed up, needing every ounce of their energy to escape from their first-round series and then continuing to struggle against actual contenders. Tim Bontemps explains how Toronto changed its approach this season in hopes of getting a different result.
>> The Raptors have the NBA’s best bench and have had a strong reserve unit for a while — their 2015 team actually had a higher bench BPM than their starters, which is unprecedented for a good team. But the reliance on the bench is also one of the causes of Toronto’s disappointing playoff results. Here’s a deeper look at the Raptors bench, with some names you may not recognize who are making a big impact.
>> Neil Greenberg crunched the numbers and the Raptors have the second-best chances of winning the title this season at 22.1 percent. The Wizards? Eh, you don’t want to know. But there’s better news for the Wizards: Washington has a 12 percent chance of upsetting Toronto in the opening round. So that’s something!
>> Finally, here’s a complete schedule for the NBA’s first round, with some quick analysis from Tim Bontemps.