Washington Wizards: 3 takeaways from Game 6 vs. Raptors

2. Losing the paint

While the Washington Wizards are known more for their outside game as opposed to their inside game, they cannot afford to lose the battle of the paint by a 56-32 margin. Marcin Gortat did not play a particularly good game, going for two points on 0-of-3 shooting from the floor.

To beat this Raptors team you have to stop DeRozan and Lowry, the team’s star players. Lowry has range and can beat you from anywhere. DeRozan, on the other hand, prefers to get his points from mid-range or in the paint. Stopping his production close to the rim is key.

Jonas Valanciunas also gave Gortat a lesson in paint, scoring 14 points. The Wizards have a talented defensive center on their roster in Ian Mahinmi but as stated earlier, he only played eight minutes in this game.

Adding to this is the fact that the Wizards gave up 16 offensive rebounds on the night. They did collect 11 themselves, but that’s five more shot attempts the Raptors had. Considering the winning margin was 10 points, this is an area that needs addressing over the summer.