National Basketball Association
Toronto 114, Washington 106
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, March 3, 2017
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, District of Columbia
Officials: #3 Nick Buchert, #8 Marc Davis, #64 Justin VanDuyne
Attendance: 20356

WASHINGTON -- The Toronto Raptors' second unit couldn't have played much worse in Wednesday's loss against the Washington Wizards. When the teams shifted their home-and-home series below the border, their production pointed straight north. Having All-Star DeMar DeRozan save his best for last certainly helped.

DeRozan had 32 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, and 13 rebounds as the Toronto Raptors exacted revenge with a 114-106 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

Norman Powell scored 14 of his 21 points in the final period for the Raptors (37-25) Cory Joseph had 15 points.

The Wizards won 105-96 at Toronto on Wednesday, leading by as many as 24 points.

"We needed it," DeRozan said of the bounce-back win. "They beat us pretty bad at our place."

The Raptors clinched the season series 2-1 and reclaimed third place in the Eastern Conference over the Wizards.

"It was huge for us," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "We challenged the player (Thursday) in our film session, in practice. You're going to lose in this league. How you're going to lose in this league is what it comes down to. The way we lost the last game in our place wasn't us. ...We had to respond from that."

John Wall had 30 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, four 3-pointers and three blocks for the Wizards (36-24). Washington had won two in a row. In their attempt for a three-game streak, the Wizards only shot 37 percent from the field. Bradley Beal scored 27 points and Otto Porter had 18 before Washington's fifth sell-out crowd of the season.

Toronto opened its five-game road trip by letting a 19-point lead slip away and briefly trailed in the third quarter before fending off Washington in the final period. DeRozan's 3-pointer put the Raptors up 111-105 with 20 seconds left immediately after Wall's shot from beyond the arc made it a one-possession game.

DeRozan entered hitting only 25 percent of his 3-point attempts, but sank all three attempted against Washington in addition to making 9 of 12 free throws.

"DeMar is a premier scorer in our league," said a proud Casey.

Washington's bench production fueled its road win Wednesday with a 26-1 run starting the second quarter. Trade deadline acquisition Bojan Bogdanovic had 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting with six 3-pointers in that game. Toronto's reserves won the rematch. Led by Powell, they outscored their counterparts 44-14.

"Completely different story. They blow us out today," said Bogdanovic, who finished 1 of 5 from the field for six points. "We didn't much up with their energy, especially the second unit. That's the key of the game."

The Raptors flipped the script as they turned a 35-27 lead after the first quarter into a 52-33 advantage in the second. Toronto shot 59.5 percent from the field in the first half and finished at 50.6 percent, including 11 of 25 on 3-pointers.

"Bouncing back from the last game when they got outscored in the second quarter. They came up big today," DeRozan said of the second unit.

However, when the Wizards brought their starters back in, the home side rallied. They entered halftime down 62-53 as Beal scored 11 points in the period. The comeback continued in the third quarter as Washington outscored Toronto 25-17, but it couldn't sustain the momentum.

"We had to play catch up," Beal said. "They had a pretty big lead on us pretty much the entire game. We were just playing tired as heck trying to fight back into it."

NOTES: F Serge Ibaka scored 14 points for Toronto. ... G Brandon Jennings made his Washington debut late in the first quarter and finished with two assists in 10 minutes. Jennings signed with the Wizards Thursday after clearing waivers following his release early in the week by the New York Knicks. "It's very exciting," Jennings said of going from non-playoff team to an Eastern Conference contender. "I wish my debut would have been a little bit better." ... The Raptors play at Milwaukee Saturday in Toronto's second stop on its current road trip. With a win, the Raptors would sweep the four-game season series. ... Washington hosts Orlando Sunday at 5 p.m. The Magic leads the season series 2-1.
Top Game Performances
 
Toronto   Washington
DeMar DeRozan 32 Scoring John Wall 30
DeMar DeRozan 5 Assists John Wall 7
DeMar DeRozan 13 Rebounds Markieff Morris 8
DeMar DeRozan 9 Free Throws Made Otto Porter Jr. 8
DeMarre Carroll 2 Steals Otto Porter Jr. 3
Delon Wright 4 Blocks John Wall 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Toronto 114 50.6 11-25 21-27 16 51 9 5 18
Washington 106 37.0 10-30 28-32 23 45 6 8 11
Upcoming Games
  • Washington will play their next game at home against Orlando. The Wizards have a W/L % of .568 after a win and .652 after a loss.
  • Toronto will play their next game on the road against Milwaukee. The Raptors have a W/L % of .611 after a win and .577 after a loss.