Washington Wizards: 3 takeaways from Game 1 vs. Raptors

2. John Wall is a passing Wizard

It goes without saying that John Wall didn’t look entirely glorious upon his return to the Wizards’ starting lineup. The team lost a couple games they absolutely shouldn’t have, including their last regular season game against the Orlando Magic. It seemed the “everybody eats” mentality the team had with Tomas Satoransky running the show had disappeared and in its place was this weird, funky team that had no idea or interest in playing together.

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But John Wall loves getting angry, and he loves the spotlight. Wall ended his first 2018 postseason game with a 23 points, 15 assists and three rebounds. He also went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and racked up four steals. Wall wanted this game badly. He was the only starter on the team who had a positive plus/minus (+2).

One thing that seemed to have been forgotten during his injury break was just how amazing Wall’s court vision is. He was able to routinely make passes the team wasn’t able to make while he was gone. Wall opened up the court with insane passing angles the entire game. While they Wizards lost the game, the Raptors had no answer for how to defend once John Wall attacked them. The team would either collapse on the shifty John Wall and leave someone open in the process, or leave him one-on-one with his man, which also never ends well.

John Wall came to win this series, but most importantly he came to make his team actively better. When he’s not making 3’s he’s looking for the open man and the easy bucket, which is a slightly different look than the usual Playoff John Wall.