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TORONTO -- The first home game after a long road trip can be a difficult one. The Toronto Raptors did their best to prove that sports adage Sunday night, falling behind by 19 points in the first half on their way to a 107-96 loss to the Washington Wizards.
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The Raptors had just completed a 3-3 road trip with a win over the Utah Jazz on Friday, but they could not stop Bradley Beal on Sunday. The Wizards guard poured in 38 points in a game Toronto never led.
"It's not a fluke that he's one of the best guards in the league," Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. "He scores in so many places on the floor, so it's hard to double-team him and we move him around on offense so they don't get a daily dose of the same thing."
The Wizards led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter before the Raptors trimmed it to three nearing the midpoint of the fourth quarter.
However, a layup by Beal and a 3-pointer by Kelly Oubre Jr. put the Wizards ahead by 13 points with 4:22 to play.
"We have to decide who we want to be," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "Do we want to be an inconsistent or a consistent fighting team? ... Our starts have been horrendous. We talked about the travel situation, how tough it is to find energy and professionalism and playing with a purpose once you come back from a long road trip, and apparently it didn't sink in. I thought our young guys played their behinds off. We've got to find consistency."
Otto Porter Jr. added 19 points, and Oubre and Markieff Morris each scored 10 for the Wizards (5-4). Marcin Gortat contributed 11 points and 12 rebounds for Washington.
"We started the game pretty good," Gortat said. "We moved the ball, we played defense. There was a stretch where we kind of lost our focus, but towards the end of the fourth quarter, we got it back."
The Wizards have had problems playing with big leads.
"We have tendencies to relax and start doing everything on our own and taking crazy shots, so those big leads are sometimes not good for us," Gortat said.
Wizards point guard John Wall (sprained left shoulder) did not play, so Beal knew the Raptors' defensive focus would be on him.
"The biggest thing was that I knew they would be keying in on me one way or another," Beal said. "So as best I could, I had to get some shots, be aggressive as possible, continue to create for my teammates and get shots for everybody."
DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 26 points. Norman Powell scored 19 for the Raptors, Delon Wright added 11, and Fred VanVleet scored 10. Serge Ibaka grabbed 10 rebounds and scored seven points.
The Raptors (5-4) lost point guard Kyle Lowry with 8:08 to play in the second quarter after he was assessed two technical fouls for arguing with the referees. In 12 minutes, he had two points, one assist and one rebound.
DeRozan said the poor start "was everything."
"From that point on, we were fighting uphill to the fourth quarter when we got it to within four, but it got away from us again," DeRozan said. "We have to do something about (the poor first quarters). We have starts like that and we expect to get right back in the game. We can't make it hard for ourselves out of the gate."
The Wizards were on top 32-17 at the end of the first quarter after leading by as many as 17 points.
Washington led by as many as 19 points during the second quarter and 62-46 at halftime.
The Wizards regained a 19-point lead early in the third quarter before the Raptors trimmed it to seven on a jump shot by DeRozan with 5:55 to play in the third.
Washington led 84-76 after three quarters.
The Wizards' lead dwindled to four points early in the fourth quarter when Lucas Nogueira made a layup off a pass from VanVleet.
DeRozan's jumper cut the lead to three points midway through the fourth.
A jumper by Oubre had Washington's lead at eight points with 5:49 to play.
NOTES: G Tim Frazier started in place of Wizards G John Wall, and he finished with four points and eight assists. Wall was injured late in the third quarter in the loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday but was able to finish that game. ... Raptors F/G C.J. Miles (flu), who missed the win over the Utah Jazz on Friday, returned to action. He played 13 scoreless minutes. ... The Raptors play the second game of their three-game homestand Tuesday against the Chicago Bulls. ... The Wizards return home to play the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.
