Wizards vs Raptors Final Score: Valanciunas Powers Raps to 88 - 78 Win

There was waaaaaaaaaaay too much ugly in this one to do an edition of our recent "Good, Bad, and Ugly" themes for these Rapid Recaps so let's get to the bottom line:

Jonas Valanciunas could be very good.

Tonight he had 24 points and 10 rebounds in the Toronto Raptors' 88 to 78 win over the Washington Wizards, and was an unbelievable 16 of 18 from the free-throw line. He also saw 41 minutes of action as Dwane Casey let the leash go for an evening, and was rewarded with possibly Valanciunas' best outing of the season.

And it was on a night where the Dinos really needed it.

While Toronto jumped out to a nice lead, the team decided to stop defending and suddenly the Wizards were ahead 50 to 39 at the half. The Dinos weren't even attempting to guard the Wiz at times and as the third quarter began, this looked to be loss number 48 on the season for TO.

However Raptors' head coach Dwane Casey must have gotten through to his troops during halftime as a different version of the Dinos emerged from the locker room, one that was focused on D and getting stops.

And that made all the difference.

Suddenly the Raps were winning the hustle plays and forcing tough shots from the Wiz, and Washington's lead completely evaporated thanks to a 12 point quarter.

The final frame wasn't much better for Washington who posted only 16 points, and in the end, the Raps come away with the win.

For a full recap of things from the Washington Wizards side, make sure you check out Bullets Forever.