I need a smoke after that one.
 | Amir Johnson, PF Shot Chart 43 MIN | 5-10 FG | 5-8 FT | 9 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 16 PTS | +9Fouled out on a really chintzy call, and it’s a shame, because he was great when he played. Could have done more to keep Gortat and the Wizards’ front-line off the glass, but he tweaked his ankle and fought through it. He played his heart out and couldn’t last to affect the game’s last two overtime periods. Pity. |  |
 | Terrence Ross, SF Shot Chart 16 MIN | 3-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 11 PTS | +7Had it booming something vicious, y’know. Bradley Beal lost him around screens and Trey Rosay (it’s happening, deal with it) made hay in the left corner. He tweaked his ankle pretty bad (running theme) and had to leave the game after the first half. | |
 | Jonas Valanciunas, C Shot Chart 29 MIN | 3-9 FG | 1-1 FT | 10 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 7 PTS | -14I don’t want to hear comments like “what about his 10 boards”, or “oh he’s just 21!” because the honest to goodness truth is that outside of a few minutes in the first quarter, Jonas Valanciunas was absolutely brutal. He got benched for his play and rightly so. He only came back into the game out of necessity, and got blocked/dunked on by Gortat a total of four times in 2OT. He also decided to slam home a shot that was already going in, which resulted in offensive cylinder interference. I’m sure he will bounce back but he was terrible. |  |
 | Kyle Lowry, PG Shot Chart 54 MIN | 6-18 FG | 5-7 FT | 9 REB | 10 AST | 3 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 18 PTS | -2So much heart. Forget his two missed game-winning attempts (one of them almost went down), but he badly sprained his ankle tonight and he still played through most of the overtime periods before being chided with a call and fouling out. He grabbed 3 offensive rebounds in a squeaky tight set of overtime periods. Kyle Lowry over everything, man. B for performance, A++++ for heart. |  |
 | DeMar DeRozan, SG Shot Chart 57 MIN | 11-23 FG | 12-14 FT | 4 REB | 6 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 34 PTS | -4Turned it on in the third OT and really carried the Raptors for stretches, but once Lowry fouled out, nobody could check Wall and they lost. Derozan was frustratingly passive in regular time, but when everyone else was tired in overtime, Demar attacked the basket, which is pretty amazing for someone who played a game-high 57 minutes. |  |
 | Tyler Hansbrough, PF Shot Chart 13 MIN | 0-0 FG | 2-4 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | 0For some reason Dwane Casey didn’t want to throw him in for defense and rebounding, because those are the only two things he can do. Missed two key free-throws in 3OT. |  |
 | Patrick Patterson, PF Shot Chart 23 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 5 PTS | +9Was in early foul trouble. Played horribly for most of the game, including gift-wrapping an and-one to Chris Singleton near the end of the third. Turned it around in the fourth and OT but he too fouled out. | |
 | Chuck Hayes, PF Shot Chart 0 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | 0He played. |  |
 | John Salmons, SF Shot Chart 34 MIN | 3-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 7 PTS | -20If Ross is out for a significant portion of time, this man might enter the starting lineup, and unless he’s fully rested (like, no back to backs, and he slept really well), he’s going to be a big minus. Didn’t do anything on defense and his offense was bricktastic. No lift on his jumper. Hey, I’m not knocking the dude, he’s just really old. |  |
 | Landry Fields, SF Shot Chart 1 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -4He also played. | |
 | Steve Novak, SF Shot Chart 5 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 3 PTS | -6Dwane Casey played him in rare offense-defense type platoons, but didn’t run any plays for him. Weird playcall. |  |
 | Greivis Vasquez, PG Shot Chart 39 MIN | 11-19 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 8 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 6 TO | 26 PTS | 0YOLO VASQUEZ FOREVER. YOLO VASQUEZ FOREVER. As if you know he didn’t have this in him, because he proved the doubters wrong for one night. The only reason he’s not getting any higher of a grade is because 37-year old Andre Miller was blowing by him consistently, but his scoring and playmaking was huge. He wore down in overtime and committed some key turnovers. Got killed by John Wall. |  |
 | Nando de Colo, PG Shot Chart 0 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | 0Nah, I’m serious. He played too. | |
 | Dwane Casey Questionable choices at times. For example, with a chance to win it in regulation, he trots out Chuck Hayes for the final possession. Why? He had his good moments too, like putting Novak in for offense-defense switches, and he had to contend with 3OT’s and four missing players. He did what he could. |  |
Five Things We Saw
- I hate to keep ragging on Jonas, but Gortat punished him every single time on the screen-and-roll. It wasn’t even close at times. Gortat had a monster game, reeling off 31 points and 12 rebounds by just feasting on the Raptors’ lack of size in the front-court. He connected with John Wall on multiple trips down the floor and he looked like Amar’e Stoudemire in his prime.
- If Ross is out for an extended amount of time, Greivis Vasquez looks like the favorite to slide into the starting lineup. Casey likes having three ball-handlers on at the same time, and the 2PG lineup with Vasquez and Lowry keyed the Raptors’ comeback. Obviously we can’t expect games like tonight to repeat itself, nor can we ever expect Vasquez to play passable defense, but he does facilitate plays, and when his shot is falling he’s a threat from deep. Also, new nickname for Greivis: “YOLO Vasquez”
- Andre Miller was great in his limited minutes. The Wizards’ bench has been a barren wasteland all season long — which is presumably why they traded for Miller — but they might have just unearthed a pharaoh in the ancient sarcophagus. Miller was up to all his wily veteran tricks, including his patented post-ups. Watch out for Andre 3000 because Outkast is back (but actually, they are and I’m so excited)
- We chide the refs a lot on this blog, but I need to commend them for a good job tonight. Yes, they called some very questionable fouls that led to Lowry and Patterson fouling out, and they were a long way from perfect, but they took the time to look at the replays in overtime(s), and they made the right calls upon review. I’m giving them thumbs up for progress.
- Sign me up for a playoff series between these two teams.
