Wizards 'not scared' and 'relieved' to draw Raptors

The eighth seed is rarely confident heading into a first-round playoff series with the first seed, but the Washington Wizards are a rare exception.

Not only are the Wizards better than the average eighth seed, but they also swept the Toronto Raptors back in 2015, and that mental edge remains heading into Saturday's Game 1.

"We haven't played with John (Wall) against them (this season). We're not scared. We respect them," Wizards point guard Tomas Satoransky told Candace Buckner of the Washington Post.

Washington staggered through yet another uneven season in 2017-18, as Wall missed months due to knee surgery, and the team wrapped up the campaign by losing nine of its last 12 games to tumble into the last Eastern Conference playoff spot.

However, despite landing in the same bracket as the East-leading Raptors and the Cleveland Cavaliers, at least some Wizards were happy to have ducked the Philadelphia 76ers.

“We are looking forward to the matchup with Toronto. I, personally, am a little relieved to not have to go against the hottest team in the league, Philly,” backup forward Jason Smith said.

“That’s not a team we want to see. We don’t match up well with them. We might have split the season series but they are the hottest team right now and they don’t have Joel Embiid and that’s a little scary.”

Toronto and Washington split the season series 2-2, and will tip off Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET.