Raptors finish on a 21-1 run to stun Washington Wizards

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On the way to the lowest point of the season so far, the Raptors rewrote the script and stunned the Washington Wizards.

Trailing by as many as 23 points, Toronto stormed back behind a monster Pascal Siakam performance and the all-out hustle of Chris Boucher to escape with a 111-107 win.

Toronto had led by only 22 seconds of the game before things got really strange late in the fourth and the Raps appeared to be on the way to a demoralizing defeat to start a homestand.

Siakam clearly had other plans. The all-NBA forward had 39 points — his most since the calendar turned to 2023 — including a short, leaning jumper that got a fortuitous roll and went in and gave the Raptors a two-point edge with 7.6 seconds left following a big defensive stand.

After Kyle Kuzma, who scored 34 points for the Wizards, stepped out of bounds on a throw-in, Dennis Schroder iced the game with a pair of free throws. That allowed the Raptors to move to 5-5 ahead of rematches with the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics later this week.

Boucher was also terrific, willing his team back into a game that should have been over long before. He had seven points and six rebounds, but those numbers didn’t tell the story. Scottie Barnes added 19, including a tough driving layup with 1:31 remaining, and had a crucial steal after extending his long arms way out, which led to a Siakam break and a game-tying layup by Boucher with 51.6 seconds remaining. A defensive stop followed and then Siakam’s winner.

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Earlier, fans had been mumbling and grumbling, stunned by the home side’s ineptitude against a team that was the NBA’s fourth-worst defensively heading in. The Raptors looked confused on the attack, running into each other, throwing away passes and, more than anything else, repeatedly clanking shots.

Toronto had been clobbered in Boston on Saturday and lost top two-way player O.G. Anunoby to injury after he cut his right index finger in a kitchen mishap Sunday and had to miss the Washington game. Gary Trent Jr. also was out, with plantar fasciitis, leaving Toronto without perhaps its two best shooters. It showed, with the Raptors hitting just two three-pointers over the game’s first three quarters, missing the other 12 attempts.

They finished just 4-21 from three — or 19% — and the Wizards nailed 12 treys on 46% shooting, but in the end, that discrepancy didn’t matter as the effort edge greatly favoured the Raptors. Toronto dominated inside, scoring a wild 76 points in the paint.

Washington led by 19 at halftime, but the Raptors kept chipping away, cutting the deficit to within 10 points. It appeared as if the Wizards would hold off the charge, the lead went back up to 16, but again, the Raptors just kept coming.

It was a wild affair that could have been a lot worse for the home side.