Otto Porter And The Washington Wizards: Going Small To Win

The Washington Wizards swept the Toronto Raptors in their first-round series, in part because they went small with Otto Porter and Paul Pierce. Their margin of victory ranged from seven points to a vacations-already-planned 31 points.

More from Washington Wizards

To be fair, most of the Wizards’ lineups outplayed the Raptors, but none more than their small-ball lineup with John Wall, Bradley Beal, Porter, Pierce and Marcin Gortat.

That lineup—which also happens to be the second-most used Wizards lineup in the playoffs—posted the best plus/minus of any five-man unit in the series. In 31 minutes of court time, they outscored the Raptors by 19 points, per NBA.com.

For comparison’s sake, the Wizards’ starting five—and most-used lineup—of Wall, Beal, Pierce, Nene and Gortat only outscored the Raptors by one point in 54 minutes of action.

Those two different lineups, one more traditional and the other a bit more modern, played the most minutes by far of any lineups. Four other lineups played double-digit minutes ranging from 18 minutes to 12 minutes and posted a plus/minus anywhere from +10 to -10. All of those groups featured two bigs.

The next most-used small lineup switched out Gortat for Nene. That group played nine minutes together spread out over two games and outscored the Raptors by nine, giving it the third-highest point differential.

The only other small ball unit that got more than a minute of action featured Ramon Sessions at the point with Beal, Porter, Pierce and Gortat. That group played four minutes and posted a plus/minus of three.

All told, when the Wizards went small, they outscored the Raptors by 31 points in 44 minutes.

For the Wizards, a team that plays old-school with two traditional bigs most of the time, going small more often is a big change. Something of a playoff curveball that Otto Porter’s emergence has enabled.

Feb 11, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Washington Wizards forward Otto Porter (22) looks on against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the Wizards 95-93. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /

The New Factor

Otto Porter averaged 19.4 minutes a game during the regular season. He topped 30 minutes in only five games. He got more opportunity as the season went on and ended up playing the seventh-most total minutes during the season, but some of that was due to players with higher per game averages joining the team later in the season (i.e., Sessions).

During the playoffs, he has averaged 31.9 minutes per game and went over the 30 minute mark in the first three games of the playoffs before not being needed as much in the Game 4 rout.

Thus far, he has played the third-most minutes in the playoffs, trailing only Beal and Wall.

If it was earlier in the season, his minutes probably would have been reversed, playing less in the first three games and more in the fourth game.

Not only has Porter played much more in the playoffs than he did during the regular season, but he has been key to the Wizards success in those minutes.

Comparing four games to an entire season may seem a little ridiculous in terms of numbers, but where his numbers rank on the team is enlightening to his rising importance.

Note: Team rank in parentheses.

The raw playoff numbers won’t sustain, but the team rankings could. It seems like Porter might be starting to fulfill some of the potential that made him the No. 3 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post describes the way Porter impacts the game and specifically that small-ball lineup:

"He has salvaged possessions with tap-outs and been a nuisance on both ends of the floor. He does the grunt work that’s made the Wizards’ wildly successful small lineup with Pierce at power forward as potent as it is."

Porter’s impact wasn’t lost on the Raptors.

Also from Jorge Castillo,

“He’s been the difference,” Raptors guard Greivis Vasquez declared after the Wizards’ Game 3 win.

That was back when the Raptors were still trying to win games. While there were actually quite a few differences, Porter’s play and the effectiveness of going small for the Wizards was one of the most glaring positives for the Wizards.

What did that small lineup that outscored the Raptors so well and played the second-most minutes look like in the regular season?

It didn’t.

That Wall, Beal, Porter, Pierce and Gortat lineup had logged four total minutes in two games before the playoffs.

It was, in essence, a secret weapon. Whether it was a secret to the Wizards coaching staff as well as the rest of the world is unknown, but it’s a good bet that group will get some serious playing time the rest of the playoffs.

Otto Porter couldn’t have picked a better time to introduce himself to the rest of the league as an impact player.

Next: 30 Best Small Forwards Of All-Time

More from Hoops Habit

Home/Washington Wizards