“We’re definitely the best backcourt in the league,” Bradley Beal claimed about himself and teammate John Wall.

The third year guard’s statement was made near the end of September of last year and it started an interesting debate. Over the course of the 2014-‘15 season it became clear – if it hadn’t already – Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are the best backcourt duo in the NBA. Following those two is where the real debate begins.

Beal went onto to say, “We feel as though we’re the best backcourt in the league, and I’m pretty sure those guys think they’re the best backcourt in the league.”

Following this season many would place DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry as the second best backcourt, or at least ahead of Beal and Wall. The Toronto Raptors backcourt have one all-star appearance each, compared to Wall and Beal, who also have two but both coming thanks to the former first overall pick out of Kentucky in Wall. DeRozan is the only one of the four to make the USA National men’s roster.

As much as the achievements and stats can favour one duo than the other, we will finally get a chance to solve such a debate on the court.

Beal and Wall, along with the Washington Wizards will take on DeRozan and Lowry’s Raptors in a best-of-seven first round series. Though, it won’t make it clear who the second best backcourt is in the NBA, as other duos around the league could make their case; one of the Wizards or Raptors backcourts will receive bragging rights over the other once this series comes to a conclusion.

It’ll be entertaining watching the two young backcourts battle it out, but Beal isn’t the only Washington Wizard to get attention through his words. In a recent article on ESPN veteran Paul Pierce opened up about his time in Brooklyn last season. Included in the article was the following quote from Pierce regarding the Raptors: “I don’t feel they have the ‘it’ that makes you worried.”

It was enough to spark DeRozan, who prior to a Raptors-Wizards series became official hoped he would matchup with Pierce. “He better hope… he won’t see what ‘it’ is,” DeRozan responded.

Pierce was playing for the Brooklyn Nets last season and played a major part in eliminating the Raptors in the first round. The 16-year veteran stood on Toronto’s home-court as the Nets came away with a 104-103 game seven victory.

This season the Raptors have had the Wizards number, winning all three matchups. The first game between the two saw Raptors blow the Wizard 103-84, but the other two wins were won by two and four points.

Toronto got the better of Washington during the season but come the opening tip of this playoff series the season records are out the window. Both team’s showed early on in the season they could be elite forces in the Eastern Conference, but over the course of the last couple months they have struggled to perform at their top level.

Through the struggles both teams experienced several people questioning if either team would get past the first round. It’s now clear one of the Raptors or Wizards will get to the second round. It just leaves one question; will this series be bearable to watch?

During the first couple months of the season the Raptors showed they could be a force on the defensive end, ranking as one of the best teams in defensive efficiency. However, heading into the 2015 calendar Dwane Casey has seen his team’s defense look dysfunctional at times. Raptors finished the regular season ranking 23rd in defensive efficiency, while their offense continues to carry the load, ranking third in offensive efficiency.

For the Wizards, it’s the opposite problem. They’ve shown they can defend, but getting the ball in the basket hasn’t come easy. Randy Whittman’s team ranks fifth in defensive efficiency, however, they’re 19th in offensive efficiency.

The two teams are quite different on the offensive end, beyond the efficiency numbers. With a more guard dominated offense the Raptors have a tendency to lean heavily on the three-point shot averaging 25.1 attempts per game, compared to the Wizards 16.8. Some of the reason the Raptors shoot so many threes is because with DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Lou Williams, it becomes a more isolated game leading to less ball movement. Raptors rank in the bottom ten of the league in assists per game at 20.7, compared to the 24.0 assists per game for the Wizards, who rank in the top 10.

Here are the two team’s field goal attempts per game by distance from the rim (field goal percentage from that distance):

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This in itself shows that the Raptors are the better efficient team on offense, and if they can somehow figure it out defensively, this series will be all Raptors.

Here is a breakdown of the two teams point differential per quarter:

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If you’ve watched the Raptors consistently all year you know about all the slow starts they get off too. Those slow starts might be difficult to overcome against a Wizards team that seems to come out strong, but struggle to finish. This series could look sloppy at times, as it’s going to come down to who can have the bigger runs. We could see one of the teams take early leads by a big margin, still that won’t be enough to count out the other team.

Key matchup of the series: Terrence Ross versus Paul Pierce

It’s DeRozan who wants to prove to Pierce that the Raptors have the ‘it’ factor, but for a successful series the two teams will need their two struggling offensive players to step up. You can almost guarantee the Raptors will get dominate performances from DeRozan, Lowry and Williams. And the Wizards will get production from Wall and Beal. Their third offensive player will be power forward Nene, who will be matched up against Amir John, Tyler Hansbrough and Patrick Patterson, and with the way the Raptors defense has gone this season, the Wizards versatile big man will get his fair share of points.

For the Raptors, Ross’ struggles began during last year’s first round series and continued into this season. The third-year wing played in all 82-games this season, starting in all but 21 of those games. His role diminished to coming off the bench when he hit his lowest point. It seemed Ross lost all the confidence in his game, leading to a poor defense from the athletic youngster. Ross’ true shooting percentage has dropped from 55.3% last season to 51.9% this season. If he can find his confidence back, especially with his three point shooting the Raptors will be even more dangerous on offense.

Pierce on the other hand is no longer young like Ross. At 37-years old, Pierce is not the player that will score 20-points every night as his role has diminished. The trash-talking veteran no-longer has that intimidation factor, but his veteran leadership will come crucial for the Wizards. Again, the Wizards know the production will come from Wall and Beal, they just need that veteran spark.

Prediction

As much as it feels that we are in for a sloppy, unwatchable series, both teams will show some signs of exciting basketball. The Wizards may have times where they can’t buy a basket and the Raptors will have times when Lou Williams holds the ball for 21-seconds before taking a deep three.

Both fan bases will have times when they want to change the channel or throw a shoe at the TV screen, but settle in for what could be a very long seven game series. And when I say seven games, I mean seven games. This could be a series that the home team wins every game, with the Wizards being a 17-24 road team. Raptors on the other hand tied their franchise record in road wins, going 22-19 for the season.

It’s time the Raptors got out of the first round. The last time that happened was during the 2001 playoffs. Meaning it is also time the Raptors won a seven-game series as their franchise has yet to do so. The first round series they won in 2001 was a five-game series. Raptors have a little chip on their shoulder, and they aren’t going to let Pierce and the Wizards walk into Toronto and do what Pierce and the Nets did to them last season.

This series will go seven games, and the Raptors will come out on top.

Series Schedule

Game one – Saturday, April 18 – at Toronto – 12:30pm (TSN/ESPN)

Game two – Tuesday, April 21 – at Toronto – 8:00pm (TSN/NBA TV)

Game three – Friday, April 24 – at Washington – 8:00pm (TSN/ESPN2)

Game four – Sunday, April 26 – at Washington – 7:00pm (TSN/TNT)

Game five – Wednesday, April 29 – at Toronto – TBD

Game six – Friday, May 1 – at Washington – TBD

Game seven – Sunday, May 3 – at Toronto – TBD

 

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