Raptors Vs. Wizards Postgame Quotes: Randy Wittman Sings John Wall's Praises

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Postgame quotes from last night's Wizards-Raptors game:

RANDY WITTMAN

On John Wall setting the tone: "John led it with his play on both ends of the floor. The pace of the game in that first quarter, to me, was incredible. His decisions, going all the way to the basket, his defensive pressure, we just kind of all fell in right behind that. That’s what a guy like him can do when he’s playing like that. That was as good a game as I’ve had with him on both ends of the floor."

On what happened in the fourth quarter: "We still have to realize that when you are a scorer in this league and you are scoring, other teams scout just like we do. They’re going to get the ball out of your hands. We have to be willing passers when that happens. That’s a compliment. They are doubling you for a reason. So now, what we got to do is make the simple plays."

On the late-game execution: "John was making the right decisions at the end. High pick and roll with Book, Book stopped at the free-throw line and John just made the simple pass right over the top of the double team and made plays."

On the mindset scorers must have: "You’re not going to dribble out of the double team more times than not. You just have to accept it, move the ball and make plays. Then, if you do that three or four times in that fourth quarter, they’re going to say, ‘We can’t double anymore.’ That opens things back up again. We never made that adjustment in the fourth quarter."

On Rashard Lewis:"I didn’t give them a day off yesterday, didn’t feel like with how we’ve been playing that I should rest them. He woke up this morning a little sore, and there’s no need with just a little soreness right now to play him until it’s real sore. We rested him so it wouldn’t become a lingering problem. How long that’ll be? I don’t know. We have to take it day by day."

JOHN WALL

On what changed defensively in overtime: "We just did a good job of stopping the ball and closing out to their shooters. Jerryd Bayless got hot for a stretch and he found Kleiza a couple times, but whenever they missed a shot, we didn’t give them a second chance. That’s what you got to do against a team that outrebounded us by 30 last time."

On how he deals with being trapped: "You just got to give credit and say they did a good job. If you’re not scoring the ball, then you got to find your teammates. That’s what I did. We told [Trevor Booker] to set the screen and catch the ball at the free-throw line, and we let him make the play."

TREVOR BOOKER

On the late-game play calls: "They were trying to trap off the screen and roll," "So I would just try to get in the middle and John would toss me the ball. And I would try to make a play. And they found me a couple of times and I knocked down the free throws -- I missed one that I should have made, but we still one."

JORDAN CRAWFORD

On what changed defensively in overtime: "Aggressive. We were aggressive and made him work harder for his shots."