Washington Wizards: 3 takeaways from Game 6 vs. Raptors
3. The Wizards’ bench was totally outplayed
Bench depth is an issue for a number of teams and it was clearly on display in Game 6 for the Washington Wizards. The Wizards starters outperformed the Raptors starters, outscoring them 72-68. Unfortunately, they were not backed up by the bench. The Wizards’ bench was outscored 34-20 by a very deep Raptors second unit.
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Looking deeper into the numbers, the Wizards bench did not have a single assist – not one. Compare this to the Raptors’ second unit, which had seven. Ball movement is key to any good offense, so it is no wonder the Wizards reserves were outscored by 14 points without a single assist. At the start of the last quarter the Raptors reserves went on a 13-5 run, taking control of the game.
The Wizards bench also lost the rebounding battle 23-9 on the night, which is not good, particularly when the second unit was able to collect eight offensive rebounds.
The biggest problem is the Wizards only played four reserves. Ian Mahinmi only played eight minutes, so his game barely counts. Compare this with the Raptors playing five players off the bench with Jakob Poeltl playing the shortest amount of time with 17 minutes.
This is a lot of time for the Wizards starters to be on the floor, playing against more rested starters from the Raptors. This is a big reason the Raptors were able to outscore the Wizards 29-14 in the last frame to get the win.