TORONTO – Jordan Poole led all scorers with 34 factors to steer the Washington Wizards previous the Toronto Raptors 118-117 on Saturday in a sport between two groups hoping for a excessive choose on this summer season’s NBA Draft.
Bilal Coulibaly and rookie Alex Sarr every had a double-double as Washington (13-49) gained back-to-back video games. Coulibaly completed with 18 factors and 10 rebounds, whereas Sarr had 10 factors and pulled down 14 boards.
All 5 of the Wizards starters had been on the courtroom within the last two minutes of play as they tried to carry on to their slim lead.
RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., had 23 factors and 9 rebounds as Toronto (21-43) had its three-game win streak snapped. Scottie Barnes added 18 factors.
Jakob Poeltl had 21 factors, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 24 minutes of play as Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic restricted the centre’s taking part in time.
Associated Movies
Barrett performed solely 28 minutes and Barnes 27.

Get breaking Nationwide information
For information impacting Canada and all over the world, join breaking information alerts delivered on to you once they occur.
Toronto was with out a number of key gamers, together with Immanuel Quickley (relaxation), Gradey Dick (proper knee bone bruise), Ochai Agbaji (left ankle sprain), Ja’Kobe Walter (proper hip flexor), and Jonathan Mogbo (nasal fracture).
TAKEAWAYS
Wizards: Poeltl was giving Washington suits, particularly throughout a Toronto comeback early within the fourth quarter, however when he was benched for the remainder of the night time Washington was capable of take benefit.
Raptors: A day after Toronto performed stifling defence in opposition to the Utah Jazz for a 118-109 victory, the Raptors had been a lot sloppier. That included 15 turnovers resulting in 16 factors. Though they had been 40 for 95 (42.1 per cent) on discipline objectives, they struggled to complete across the rim, particularly within the second and third quarters as Washington pulled forward.
KEY MOMENT
Rookie guard Jamal Shead was one in all two Toronto starters nonetheless taking part in within the dying minutes of the sport. His teammates rushed the courtroom after he appeared to hit a buzzer-beating hook shot to provide the Raptors a 119-118 win. Nonetheless, a video evaluate discovered that the ball was nonetheless in his hand when the buzzer sounded, giving Washington the win.
KEY STAT
The Charlotte Hornets beat the Brooklyn Nets 105-102 in one other matchup of NBA Draft lottery contenders earlier Saturday. That briefly tied Brooklyn and Toronto for the fifth-best odds to win the primary general choose on this summer season’s stacked draft. The Raptors loss, nonetheless, moved them again into sole possession of the fifth-worst report within the NBA and a ten.5 per cent likelihood of drafting No. 1.
Even with the win Washington has the worst report within the NBA with a 52.1 per cent likelihood of incomes a top-4 choose and a 14 per cent likelihood at first general.
UP NEXT
The Raptors and Wizards will do it once more at Scotiabank Enviornment on Monday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed March 8, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Source link