By Zachary McMahon-
The Washington Wizards played the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Canada Series at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Sunday in the Preseason opener. This is the second time that the Wizards have visited Montreal during the history of the Canada series as they also played the Raptors in 2015 when the Raptors won 92-82.
Raptors stars Scottie Barnes (personal reasons) and Immanuel Quickley (thumb) were ruled out for the team in this game.
No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr made his preseason debut and he and Jordan Poole lead the Wizards with 15 and 16 points respectively. Poole also had six assists, and Jonas Valaciunas led the Wizards with six rebounds while scoring three points.
R.J. Barrett led the Raptors with 17 points, with Chris Boucher following up with 13 off the bench. Toronto native Kelly Olynyk, Garrett Dick, Jahmi’us Ramsey, Jamison Battle each added 10 points for the Raptors.
The Raptors started out with a 13-2 run which was led by Barrett and Dick, and then the Raptors had a 34-16 lead when Boucher went up for a slam dunk. The Raptors led 56-38 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Sarr and no. 24 overall pick Kyshawn George helped cut the deficit to 15 for the Wizards.
Both teams had their benches out in the fourth, as the Raptors cruised to a 125-98 victory over the Wizards.
The Wizards will go down to NYC to face the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday 7:30 pm, while the Raptors will play a rematch with the Washington Wizards at the Capital One Arena on Friday at 7 pm, before they play a home-and-home series with the Boston Celtics.
Sports Insider Daily 