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Wizards Dominance In Paint Must Continue

By Josh Wilson

Apr 18, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat (4) defends against Toronto Raptors forward Amir Johnson (15) as center Jonas Valanciunas (17) looks on in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Washington defeated Toronto 93-86. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 18, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat (4) defends against Toronto Raptors forward Amir Johnson (15) as center Jonas Valanciunas (17) looks on in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Washington defeated Toronto 93-86. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Washington Wizards stunned everyone in round one of the playoffs, taking down the Toronto Raptors with apparent ease and bringing out the brooms in a perfect sweep of four games. There were a lot of reasons for this success, but one thing is easy to see: their paint game was incredible.

Both on the offensive side and defensive side of the floor, the way they used or defended the paint was important in their wins.

From the get-go of this series, the game plan was clear from the Wizards. Their aggressiveness was evident in the paint, shown early in Game 1 from Nene Hilario and Marcin Gortat.

It was made evident all throughout this series that it’s not only in the Wizards’ best interest to try and keep the game small and in the paint on the offensive side, but also on the defensive side. They have Gortat and Nene, who are both very aggressive in the paint and able to make sure lots of shots in the paint don’t go in.

John Wall also proved his speed and sped down the court to block some key shots several times in transition throughout the series. Check out this video at 6:25 where a Raptors fast break starts. Wall does a great job with transition defense and gets a block in the key that otherwise would’ve been an easy two points for Toronto.

Wall’s speed, in conjunction with the Wizards’ great post defense, makes their paint defense unique and hard to overcome without teams expanding their shot selection.

Washington closed out the game proving their paint dominance again, making almost all of their overtime points in the paint.

The Wizards have a host of players with different skills, even just inside the paint. Nene can get physical and dominate near the rim. Bradley Beal is fast enough to drive into the paint, in a Wall-like fashion. Gortat can hit shots from close, or midrange, and Pierce can easily hit anything back to the foul line. They often play a small, paint-based offense, but when they do, it’s successful.

Watch Wall in this video. He drives in and uses his speed and footwork to work the paint beautifully. Then, rather than taking a shot, the predictable move, he gives his teammate Gortat a chance and throws the defense off. It’s a great paint move that showcases Wall’s speed.

What’s special about this speed is it isn’t just on one axis. Wall is able to change his direction and maintain a high speed, something that’s very hard to defend. It’s a big reason that he was able to get so close to the hoop on the Gortat assist possession.

Now, I know it isn’t hard to convince even the most casual basketball fan that getting inside the paint will win a basketball game, but my points regarding keeping other teams in the paint seems a bit different from the usual. I was actually surprised when I looked at the numbers, too.

The Raptors did play great in Game 1, as they were able to take the Wizards all the way to overtime. Part of the reason for their good play was their ability to expose the Wizards’ fault in not being able to defend the perimeter very well, while also being able to shut down anything that came in the key.

Starting off the game by leading at the end of the first quarter was a plus for Toronto, and they were able to do this through great shot distribution. Only half of their shots came in the paint this quarter, whereas in the second quarter, when they were outscored by eights points, 75 percent of their points were from the paint.

This trend was shown again in the third quarter where they were outscored by five points, with 83 percent of their shots coming in the paint.

Apr 26, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards forward Nene (42) gets aggressive in the paint. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 26, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards forward Nene (42) gets aggressive in the paint. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

In the fourth quarter, the Raptors played extremely well, outscoring the Wizards by nine points, all because they were able to expand past the key, and make four key three-pointers.

Additionally, two of their other six made shots in the fourth were from more than 15 feet away.

In the first round, when the Wizards were able to force the Raptors to have more than 50 percent of their made shots come from inside the key in any given quarter, the Raptors trailed in those quarters five out of seven times.

These stats say a lot about the Wizards’ defense. It’s something that could be key in round two. Their defense can be strong, if they can bring their opponents offense into a small, paint-based game.

I’m not saying the Wizards can’t make a three-ball once in a while, or block shots that are past 10 feet, I’m just saying that they’ve had immense success, especially so far in this year’s playoffs, by keeping things small on both sides of the court. Dominating by taking the game down low and getting physical could be the deciding factor for the Wizards’ future in this year’s playoffs.

Next: Golden State Warriors: 5 Keys To Second Round Series

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