WASHINGTON \u2014 Once upon a time, there was a thought in the NBA that teams could win with small lineups, and “positionless” basketball might make the traditional centre obsolete.<\/p>\n
Yeah, the math won that one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Turns out having seven-foot dudes in a sport where the rim is 10 feet off the ground is a good thing. And if the other team has a bunch of quality bigs, you’d better go get some too.<\/p>\n
The New York Knicks’ best player on their championship team was a six-foot point guard, but they had three playable centres on their roster and two that were crucial to their success. The San Antonio Spurs have seven-foot-four Victor Wembanyama, but went and signed another seven-footer (Luke Kornet) in free agency and drafted another big man this past summer.<\/p>\n
The Oklahoma City Thunder? They are the early favourites for the 2027 title in part because they have three quality seven-footers, including impressive seven-foot-three rookie Aday Mara.<\/p>\n
Which is, in part, what made the Raptors’ 112-102 win Friday over the much-improved Washington Wizards so interesting here in the early stages of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As part of their makeover from perhaps the league\u2019s most egregious tankers to a team that should be at least competitive, the Wizards now boast three quality big men themselves: 10-time all-star Anthony Davis, promising second-year centre Alex Sarr and former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Raptors remain stuck at one in the form of Jakob Poeltl and have their fingers crossed that his balky back can hold up for an entire year after playing just 46 games last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Raptors have solved this riddle before. Part of their relative success against Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs was managing the Cavaliers’ all-star duo of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was a formula they used again with great success in what ended up being a hard-fought but encouraging victory over Washington (1-1) that improved the Raptors to 2-0 before they head to Minnesota to match up with the Timberwolves on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Davis has been a longtime Raptors killer and manhandled this group a year ago when he was still with the Mavericks. But whatever lessons the Raptors have learned since have carried over, as Davis \u2014 who opened the season with 34 points and 12 rebounds on Wednesday \u2014 was limited to nine points on 3-of-12 shooting while committing four turnovers. The Wizards were minus-13 in his 32 minutes. Sarr had four points and five rebounds, while Ayton had four points and six rebounds. Between the three of them, they only had two offensive rebounds, both by Ayton.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a pretty good team, but just (went in) knowing we had to rebound, that was one of our main points of emphasis,\u201d said Barnes, who had 14 rebounds, blocked two shots and had two steals to go along with his game-high 28 points. \u201cWe just play hard, that\u2019s all you can do. Play hard, try to be as physical as you can within what the refs allow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They all had moments. Poeltl (six points, nine rebounds) has looked healthy and quick on his feet by his standards. The Wizards looked for Davis on a couple of early post-ups, and they went nowhere, with Murray-Boyles holding his ground. Davis also tried unsuccessfully to back Poeltl down, and he locked him up long enough that Kawhi Leonard could sneak in on the weak side and snare one of the Raptors’ 12 steals as they forced the Wizards into 20 turnovers. Even some of the Raptors’ smaller players bought in as Immanuel Quickley fronted Davis on a switch while Ja\u2019Kobe Walter came over to help from behind. When the Wizards decided to reverse the ball Murray-Boyles anticipated the pass, shot the gap and went the other way for a dunk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The second-year forward said he feels like the Raptors’ lack of size is a state of mind, and they don\u2019t have it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t feel small at all,\u201d said Murray-Boyles, who stands six-foot-seven but plays bigger. He finished with eight points and five rebounds to go along with three steals in another stellar defensive night that saw him finish at plus-21 in 18 minutes that were limited by foul trouble. \u201cWe use it as an advantage. We move around them; at the other end we stretch them out as much as possible. We don\u2019t see (our size) as a disadvantage at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Raptors held the Wizards to 38 per cent shooting (including 12-of-38 from three) and used their defensive energy to control the game from the outset. They led by seven after the first quarter and by as much as 17 in the second.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Wizards got back into it \u2014 eventually pulling within a point with 35 seconds left in the third quarter as Trae Young and former Raptors two-way player Justin Champagnie combined on a quick 9-0 run.<\/p>\n
The Raptors helped the Wizards’ cause with some shaky shooting (7-of-34 from three), a penchant for fouling (the Wizards outscored the Raptors 30-17 from the free-throw line) and some sloppy turnovers in transition, including several by Barnes, who tied his career high with eight turnovers, half of the Raptors’ total. He was otherwise brilliant, scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter as the Raptors were able to pull away.<\/p>\n