The Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors were both candidates to sit at the top of the Eastern Conference this season. Both teams came off mild success last year and made key upgrades to the roster in order to compete once again. They might not be sitting at the top of the conference heading into the first round of the playoffs, but they are both playing their best basketball at the right time in order to set themselves up for a deep postseason run.
The Raptors wrapped up their second consecutive Atlantic Division title while winning a franchise-best 49 games. However, Toronto is still thinking about the playoffs of last year when they lost Game 7 to the Brooklyn Nets, ending a magical season. Now they aim to change that and change history as Toronto has not advanced past the first round more than once in 20 years. The Raptors have never won a seven-game series and they will try and change that against the Wizards.
Lou Williams has been a critical addition to the Raptors in order to push their success this season. Both Kyle Lowry and DeMarr DeRozan have battled injuries during the year, but are healthy when it matters entering Game 1. DeRozan and Lowry have created one of the best back-court duos in the NBA second to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. However, they will be battling another great backcourt in John Wall and Bradley Beal who both earn All-Star nods. Wall continues to put together another solid season and is ready to finally get a long playoff run into his career resume.
The Wizards are dealing with some injuries. Garrett Temple will not be available for Game 1. He has not seen the court since March 9 after suffering a hamstring injury. The Wizards fear he could end up missing the entire series with the injury. Meanwhile Lowry is healthy after missing nine of the last 10 games with back spasms. The guard stressed that will not be an issue.
The x-factor in this series could very well be Paul Pierce who left the Brooklyn Nets and sign with the Wizards in free agency. The Raptors are all too familiar with Pierce. In the team's series against the Nets last year, Pierce blocked Lowry's last minute shot which gave the Nets the series win. Williams will also be an x-factor. As a nominee for the Sixth Man, he has put up a career-high 15.5 points per game this season.