TORONTO — Paul Pierce scored five of his 20 points in overtime, Nene had 12 points and 13 rebounds and the Washington Wizards beat the Toronto Raptors 93-86 on Saturday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
Pierce hit a 3-pointer, his fourth of the game, to begin the extra session, further tormenting a Raptors team he eliminated with the Brooklyn Nets in last year’s playoffs, then derided this week by saying, “I don’t feel they have the ‘It’ that makes you worried,” in an interview with ESPN.
Bradley Beal scored 16, while John Wall and Kevin Seraphin each had 10 for the Wizards.
Amir Johnson scored 18 points and DeMar DeRozan had 15 for the Raptors, who have yet to win the opening game of a first-round series in seven postseason appearances.
Toronto hosts Game 2 on Tuesday night.
Washington held a double-digit lead in the second half, but Greivis Vasquez, who took over after All-Star Kyle Lowry fouled out, tied it at 82-all by hitting a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left.
Neither team scored again until Pierce made a 3-pointer 36 seconds into overtime, the first basket in a 7-0 Wizards run. Toronto missed seven straight shots before DeRozan’s dunk with 29 seconds left.
The Raptors’ only Game 1 win came over the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 2001 playoffs.
Three of the past five meetings between the Wizards and Raptors have gone into overtime, including one triple-overtime game.
Pierce scored nine points in a 14-2 Wizards run late in the second, including a pull-up jumper that gave Washington its first lead of the game. Pierce scored 10 in the quarter as the Wizards led 46-42 at halftime.
Thumbnail photo via John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports Images
