WASHINGTON—Marcin Gortat went into Wednesday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors full of big statements and desperate for a win.
With his team dropping its first two games of the season on the road, he said Wednesday’s home opener was a must-win. He didn’t get that, as the Raptors improved to 3-1 with 113-103 win over the Wizards.
Gortat also promised that in order to slow Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan’s 35 points-per-game clip, they’d have to be physical with him. Gortat embraced that theme and spread it across the board. His errant first-quarter elbow gave Kyle Lowry three stitches and he threw every bit of his six-foot-11, 240-pound body at the rest of the Raptors.