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One sweep surprise: How the Wizards dispatched the Raptors

WASHINGTON — What just happened?

The Raptors and their fans are probably asking the same question, albeit from the opposite perspective of the Wizards and their delirious supporters following Washington’s stunning, clean sweep of Toronto in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. What’s perhaps more shocking was that after surviving a late run to win in overtime in Game 1, the Wizards played better in each successive game, capped by a wire-to-wire, 31-point blowout in Game 4 Sunday night.

This Wizards team looked nothing like the one that stumbled down the stretch of the regular season. They looked nothing like the one that lost all three matchups with Toronto earlier in the year. So what happened between the end of the regular season and the beginning of the playoffs that led to this completely different Washington basketball team?

WTOP takes a look at each aspect of the series that led to the historic sweep, the first in a seven-game playoff series in franchise history.

 

Games that shaped the decade in local sports

This decade of local sports has been defined by some of the highest highs, lowest lows and the dramatic swings between them. Heartbreak, redemption and a championship would make for a full decade for any team, never mind that several around these parts can lay claim to all of the above. But which games will we remember, that shaped the arcs our teams traveled? Here are 20 that defined the 2010s.
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