Wizards render 2014-15 Raptors extinct with blowout to sweep series

The Toronto Raptors set a franchise record with 49 wins this season. An unexpected surge last season - including a near-victory in round one of the playoffs - plus their robust regular season win total this year set expectations unreasonably high for the 2014-15 playoffs.

They regressed. They stumbled. They faltered. And with their season on the line, down 3-0 to the Washington Wizards, they failed to show up.

The Wizards cruised to a 125-94 victory for the 4-0 series sweep, making them the first team to sweep an opponent without home-court advantage since 2011.

To illustrate just how out of hand things got, by the end of the third quarter the Wizards already had 102 points, a Raptors fan had been tossed from the Verizon Center and the Raptors were left to try funky lineups with DeMar DeRozan at the four. It got weird, as blowouts tend to. 

In all, the game and series were representative of the Raptors being unmasked as a team that was never quite as good as they seemed at their best.

That's not to discredit the Wizards, who were just as inconsistent as Toronto but entered the playoffs on the right end of the yo-yo. They looked incredible, and they're a serious threat to make the Eastern Conference Finals.

Turning Point

On the game's opening possession, the Raptors uncharacteristically ran a clever action to free DeRozan for an easy layup underneath the basket. It was nothing too complicated, but a smart way to get one of their scorers the ball in a situation other than a face-up isolation.

DeRozan's shot attempt was destroyed by a Paul Pierce block.

Two minutes later, the Raptors freed Kyle Lowry - who shot 31.6 percent in the series - in the corner for a wide open three. He paused, waited and finally fired, missing the shot. Again, nothing too mind-blowing on the whiteboard, but a nice means of getting a scorer a clean look.

If the Raptors weren't going to score on those two plays, Sunday wasn't going to be their night.

Star Performer

The Raptors opted to give Marcin Gortat a steady supply of obscenely easy looks. You can't fault the player's final stat line for that, though - Gortat could only make the shots he took and the Wizards only give him the shots he can make.

As it were, he completely killed the Raptors inside, slipping free underneath the basket when his man helped on pick-and-rolls elsewhere, bodying up the overmatched Raptors bigs and, when the shot wasn't there, dishing to teammates to spread the joy around.

Gortat finished with 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting, adding 11 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block in 29 minutes. He averaged 17.3 points and eight rebounds for the series on 74.4-percent shooting, an appreciable jump from the 12.2 points and 8.7 rebounds he averaged during the season.

All of the Wizards fed at the trough of Raptors indifference on Sunday, but Gortat ate most heartily.

Highlight Reel

Wall might literally be a Wizard. Somehow, he made this pass to Bradley Beal. No bounce, no dribbles, no movement, just an insane zip for an open three.

And even that probably felt better for the Raptors than this other Beal triple:

It's OK, Raptors fans. Tyler Hansbrough feels your frustration and took it out on Ramon Sessions.

Series at a Glance

Game 1: Wizards 93, Raptors 86 OT (Wizards lead 1-0)
Game 2: Wizards 117, Raptors 106 (Wizards lead 2-0)
Game 3: Wizards 106, Raptors 99 (Wizards lead 3-0)
Game 4: Wizards 125, Raptors 94 (Wizards win series 4-0)

Alternate Series at a Glance