The Toronto Raptors took a 2-0 series lead in their first-round matchup with the Washington Wizards after a 130-119 win on Tuesday.
Here are three takeaways ahead of Game 3.:
Mental Toughness
The Toronto Raptors have been accused of being soft for years. It's been a false narrative for the last couple of seasons, but this year they've won enough to silence most of the criticism. The "old Raptors" wouldn't have came out the gate in Game 2 winning the first period 44-27 - setting a franchise record for points in a quarter in the playoffs.
The "old Raptors" wouldn't have responded well when the Wizards were able to reduce a 23 point lead to just five points midway through the fourth quarter. The "old Raptors" may have very well lost Game 2 altogether - giving up the homecourt advantage they worked so hard for all season long.
This isn't the "old Raptors", they answer every Wizards' punch with a counter-punch of their own and now they have a 2-0 series lead to show for it.
Points in the Paint
The Raptors new offence was supposed to feature more three-point shots, but even with bigs Serge Ibaka and Jonas Valanciunas venturing further from the basket to find shots they haven't gotten away from pounding the Wizards inside.
Washington is absent of a true shot blocker and Toronto is taking advantage of that - finishing with 50 of their 130 points in the paint. In Game 1 they had 48 points in the paint showing that even though coach Casey is asking for more threes, they haven't forgotten to still manufacture easy baskets.
Serge Ibaka
Air Congo didn't have the eye-popping double-double he had in Game 1 on Tuesday, but his energy and efforts defensively is a key factor in the 2-0 series lead. Ibaka was tasked with guarding John Wall and Bradley Beal on switches throughout Game 2 and he made it life tough for two of the league's best one-on-one players.
While his on-ball defence was impressive, his help defence is what makes the Raptors so stingy. Ibaka had three of the team's eight blocks including a highlight reel swat that had the bench turning the thumbs down.
He's not what he once was in Oklahoma City, but Serge can still anchor a defence for spurts.
