TORONTO -- Arch-rival Paul Pierce proved Raptor killer once again Saturday, scoring 20 points to lift the Washington Wizards to a 93-86 overtime victory over Toronto in Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series.
Amir Johnson had 18 points to top the Raptors, who rallied from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit before falling apart in the extra period. DeMar DeRozan finished with 15 points, while Patrick Patterson, Lou Williams and Greivis Vasquez had 10 apiece.
Kyle Lowry finished with seven points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 2:36 to play.
Bradley Beal added 16 points for the Wizards.
The Raptors were like deer in headlights in last year's Game 1, which they lost by seven points to Brooklyn before taking the Nets to seven games. A year later, and the talk all week was about how the nerves were gone. Quiet confidence had supposedly taken its place.
But until their late-game surge Saturday, the Raptors, who'd beaten Washington in all three regular-season meetings, looked entirely out of sorts, trailing by as many as 11 before going into the fourth quarter down 65-56.
The Wizards would stretch their advantage to 15 points, virtually sucking the enthusiasm out of an Air Canada Centre that was a sea of white T-shirts, and included Kentucky coach John Calipari and NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
But the Raptors abruptly woke up. A three-pointer by Vasquez with six minutes to play brought the Raptors to within six and fans out of their seats. Consecutive three-point bombs from Williams cut Washington's lead to two points with 2:55 to play.
Then with 26 seconds on the clock, Vasquez drilled a three to tie the game 82-82, shimmying and strutting up the court. His bucket capped a 23-8 run and sent the game into extra time.
The positive vibe was short-lived though, as Toronto went scoreless through four minutes of overtime until a DeRozan dunk with 30 seconds left.
The series had some drama before the first ball was thrown up thanks to Raptors arch-rival Pierce, who earlier this week was quoted as saying the Raptors don't have "it."
Pierce, whose block on Lowry at the buzzer of Game 7 last season sent the Nets to the second round, was booed during team introductions. Spontaneous chants of "Paul Pierce sucks!" erupted in the arena periodically.
GM Masai Ujiri, who was fined US$25,000 last year for his famous F-bomb about Brooklyn, toned it down slightly Saturday. Taking the stage to address the thousands outside in Maple Leaf Square, Ujiri told them, "People want me to say something about Paul Pierce, but we don't give a (expletive) about it!"
Silver wasn't pleased with Ujiri's pre-game comment, telling TSN, "I've known Masai for 20 years, he's a very emotional guy but it's not appropriate in the league.
"I'll leave it at that."
The Raptors led from the opening tipoff, but never by more than six points in an uninspiring first quarter, and they took a 23-19 lead into the second.
Pierce came to life with 10 points in the second including the pullup jumper with three minutes to play in the half en route to taking a 46-42 lead into the dressing room at halftime.
The Raptors shot a dreadful 28 per cent in a third quarter that saw the Wizards go ahead by 11 on a Wall jumper 4:40 left in the frame. Washington went into the third up 65-56.
