
Raptors (36-25) at Wizards (36-23)
March 3, 2017 at 7:00 PM Verizon Center | Washington, DC TV: CSN Mid-Atlantic Radio: 1500 AM
Last time they met was..
March 1, 2017 - Verizon Center: Wizards 105, Raptors 96
What to watch:
The Wizards wrap up the season series with Toronto and take the tiebreaker.
How great did it feel to be living like it was late April of 2015 again, where the Wizards arrive in Canada to play a game of critical stakes, not exactly a playoff game but a game with high playoff seeding on the line, and they come out upending the Raptors in front of their home crowd. We even got a Paul Pierce-esque Bojan Bogdanovic having very little regard for the feelings of the Canadian faithful, raining acid from long range with six 3's.
Tonight, the Wizards get a chance at an encore. They get a chance to sweep the Raptors in the home-and-away back-to-back. They get a chance to take the season series and own the tiebreaker. Most importantly, they get a chance to move ahead three games in the loss column over Toronto at the 3-spot. BONUS: A Wizards win and a Celtics loss tonight will tie them in the loss column with Boston at 23. Leggo.
Key Matchup:
Bojan Bogdanovic vs. his face
Because he can't feel it. After downing six of his seven 3-point shots against these Raptors on Wednesday night, BOGI3 is now 12 of 22 from downtown since joining the Wizards (12-19 if you exclude his jittery debut where he missed his first three 3's). His 27 points off the bench led ALL scorers and his 16 second quarter points catalyzed the 26-1 Wizards onslaught at the beginning of that period. The Wizards needed an ice-maker coming off the bench, and Bojan has brought plenty of it in his veins.
Bojan finding immediate comfort with the team merely testifies to the remarkable chemistry the Wizards have generated under management of Scott Brooks and the leadership of John Wall. The tools he's brought with him from Brooklyn are exactly what the second unit needs to develop some sort of competence and take pressure off one of the league's best starting lineups. His shot release is super quick. He's a willing aggressor to the rim. He can literally shoot and score from anywhere on the floor. I'm very happy he's here.
X-Factor:
Ian Mahinmi

Now that he's healthy, Mahinmi has enjoyed some extensive burn off the bench and you don't need to look too far past the opening stretch of the 2nd quarter of Wednesday's game to see just how profoundly vital he is, particularly on the defensiveend.
As Bullets Forever's Jake Whitacre excellently pointed out in a recent column, the underlying factor - and perhaps the most quietest one in the Wizards' relentless 26-1 run that opened up the 2nd quarter on Wednesday - was Mahinmi's defensive presence. Whether he was the direct cause of ball-stops via blocks or whether his deceptive agility in occupying space altered offensive possessions, Mahinmi's unequivocal value as a defender was on full display. And can we discuss how well the big man defends smaller, quicker guards when switched? It's the exact reason why I say he's deceptively agile. His excellent defensive attributes, supplemented by Bojan's ability to convert stops into points is making a monster out of this once laughable bench unit. Let's hope it remains sustainable.
Fun Factor:
What's cleaner - Wall's block or Wall's waves?

Prediction:
