The final box score says 105-96 for the Wizards, but make no mistake: the Raptors lost tonight. Italics wholly necessary. If asked why it happened, we could point to the absence of Kyle Lowry. Toronto needs him to give shape, form and reason to this team. Without him, we are left with this outcome, and more questions.
So what happened? John Wall mostly did what he wanted for a casual 12 points and 13 assists; Marcin Gortat stunted on Jonas Valanciunas for a laughing 12 points and 8 rebounds; Bradley Beal hit shots for 23 points; even newcomer Bojan Bogdanovic fit right in — he was the game’s high scorer with 27.