TORONTO (AP) — Paul Pierce beat the Raptors with a veteran mix of brains and baskets.
Pierce scored five of his 20 points in overtime, Nene had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and the Washington Wizards beat Toronto 93-86 on Saturday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
“It takes the pressure off us and puts it on them now,” Pierce said of winning on the road to start the series.
Bradley Beal scored 16, while John Wall and Kevin Seraphin each had 10 for the Wizards.
Amir Johnson scored 18 points and DeMar DeRozan had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who have yet to win the opening game of a first-round series in seven postseason appearances.
Toronto hosts Game 2 on Tuesday night.
Washington held a double-digit lead in the second half, but Greivis Vasquez, who came on after All-Star Kyle Lowry fouled out, tied it at 82-all by hitting a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left.
“We didn’t get discouraged when they tied it up, we just stayed confident with each other,” Pierce said.
Neither team scored again until Pierce made a 3-pointer 36 seconds into overtime, the first basket in a 7-0 Wizards run. Toronto missed seven straight shots before DeRozan’s dunk with 29 seconds left.
The Raptors’ only Game 1 win came over Philadelphia in the second round of the 2001 playoffs.
Lou Williams, Patrick Patterson and Vasquez each had 10 for the Raptors, whose bench outscored the starting five 48-38.
DeRozan, Lowry and Terrence Ross shot a combined 11 for 41, including a 0-for-11 performance from 3-point range.
“We just missed a lot of easy shots,” DeRozan said.
More than the poor shooting, Raptors coach Dwane Casey said he wasn’t happy that his team got outrebounded 61-48. Washington has 19 offensive rebounds.
“Until we make (rebounding) a priority, it’s going to be hard for us,” Casey said.
Three of the past five meetings between the Wizards and Raptors have gone into overtime, including one triple-overtime game.
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