Wizards find comfort zone on road, roll Raptors

Mike Bohn | USA TODAY Sports

TORONTO — The Washington Wizards are the only team so far in the 2015 NBA Playoffs that has found the recipe for victory on the road.

Dominant performances from starting guards John Wall and Bradley Beal helped the Wizards to a 117-106 victory and a 2-0 series lead over the Toronto Raptors in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference opening round series.

A vintage effort from Paul Pierce led the Wizards to a competitive Game 1 overtime victory. Game 2 was far more lopsided, thanks to a combined 54 points and 19 assists from Wall and Beal.

"When we're both aggressive and our offense is on, we're a tough team to beat," Wall told USA TODAY Sports of the massive game from the Wizards backcourt. "All we can do is be ourselves and play the game the right way. We believe in our ability to score the ball and find our teammates."

After a disappointing Game 1 loss, the Raptors started Game 2 strong and charged to a 10-point lead in the opening minutes and held a five-point edge at the end of the first. The crowd was wild for the home team, but by the end of the second, the momentum had shifted entirely in the Wizards favor.

Wall and Beal began to hit their stride in the second quarter. By halftime, the Wizards owned an 11-point lead. Wall posted 12 points and 10 assists while Wall put 20 points on the board on nine-of-14 shooting.

Wall finished the game with 26 points and 17 assists. Beal scored 28 points and dishes two assists.

"I thought John and Beal did a great job of leading us all game," Pierce said. "I've been saying it all year long. As they go, as we go. We follow their lead, the way they come out aggressive with that type of aggression it's tough to beat us."

The opportunity for Wall and Beal to deliver superstar-level performances was partially created by Raptors all-star point guard Kyle Lowry's limited action.

After fouling out in Game 1, Lowry picked up three first-half fouls on Tuesday and was forced to spend the majority of the game on the bench, playing just over 27 minutes total in the game. The Wizards held Lowry to six points and four assists, which Pierce said was a key factor in the win.

"He's a tremendous talent and you can't expect him to play like he's played these first two games all series long," Pierce said of Lowry. "He's the head of the snake and when he's got it going well, they're a tough team to beat. We try to be aggressive with our defense, on him especially."

Despite an opportunity to regroup at halftime, the Raptors let the game slip further away in the third quarter. The Wizards continued to shoot well and pushed their lead up as the quarter progressed. A series of four successful 3-point shots in the final two minutes put the Wizards up 97-75 at the end of the third.

Wizards forward Drew Gooden, who had five points and six rebounds off the bench, said that run to close the quarter was the final nail in the Raptors' coffin.

"I kept hearing the crowd go, 'Oh! Oh!' – but it was us scoring, it wasn't the Toronto Raptors scoring," Gooden said. "We basically took the crowd out of the game at that point and we started seeing the demeanor of the Raptors coming down and shooting wild shots."

The Raptors players were met with a chorus of boos from the crowd at the end of the third quarter. The deficit was 22 points, but the Raptors didn't give up. They forced overtime in Game 1 after trailing by 15, and again the Raptors attempted to rally again late in the game.

For a brief moment the Raptors mustered hope by cutting the lead to 10 at 3:15 of the final quarter. That's as close as they would get, though. Although the lead was never truly in danger, Pierce said the momentary lapse in defensive effort showed the Wizards still have room to grow.

"We just got to run through the finish line; sometime we get a big lead and it's like The Tortoise and the Hare," Pierce said. "The Hare is messing around and chilling on the sidelines. We've got to run through the finish line, simple and plain. We can't turn around, look back and look at the lead.

"We've got to just keep going and run through the finish line and we'll be alright. When we up 10, we got to go up 20. When we up 20, I say lets go up 30. That's one thing we have to improve on, but for the most part I'm happy to get a win."

The Wizards have earned back-to-back opening-round road victories for two consecutive years. In 2014, the team stole two on the road from the Chicago Bulls. They dropped one game at home but ultimately won the series 4-1.

With a similar chance to advance quickly out of the first round, Beal said it would be foolish for the Wizards to ease up. Game 3 takes place Friday at Washington's Verizon Center and Beal said he plans enter the game with the mindset that his team is the one down in the series.

"We have to play like we're down 0-2," Beal said. "Nothing changes. We can't stop being aggressive. We need to make a few adjustments here and there, but our approach has to say the same.

"We have to play desperate and play like we're the underdogs with that chip on our shoulder because they're not going to back down. They're not going to stop coming at us and we have to do our best to protect our home court one game at a time."