Raptors vs. Wizards score updates: Beal, Harrell power Wizards to victory on Opening Night

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Toronto Raptors vs. Washington Wizards, season opener

The Toronto Raptors played their first game at Scotiabank Arena since February, 2020, but couldn't get over the line against the Washington Wizards, going down 98-83.

Fred VanVleet and rookie Scottie Barnes led them in scoring with 12 points apiece, while OG Anunoby added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Anunoby struggled shooting the ball, going 3-of-17 from the field and that was the story of the game for the Raptors as a whole, who connected on just 30-of-97 (30.9 percent) of their field goals.

Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 23 points, while Montrezl Harrell added 22 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

If you missed any of the action, NBA.com has you covered with all the live updates, highlights and more from tonight's game

Raptors vs. Wizards score

  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Raptors 18 19 19 24 83
Wizards 26 31 24 17 98

Raptors vs. Wizards: Updates, scores, stats, highlights from Opening Night

FINAL: Wizards 98, Raptors 83

And that's a wrap for tonight, the Raptors start their season with a loss. They came to life in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Wizards 24-17 but it was a little too late.

- Barnes' and-1 play cuts the deficit down to 10 points, but the Wizards respond immediately first with a KCP triple and a Harrell layup to restore their cushion. 

- Back-to-back triples from OG Anunoby and all of a sudden the Raptors have cut the deficit to 91-78 with four minutes remaining. Can they pull off the comeback?

- This gigantic Banton, Barnes, Trent Jr., Boucher and Birch lineup is giving the Wizards some trouble. The ball movement and size has given them a huge energy boost. 

- Banton making an impact right away for the Raptors. He finds a cutting Boucher for the dunk and cuts the deficit to 17 points early in the fourth.

End of third quarter: Wizards 81, Raptors 56

- BANTON!!!!

With his first shot of the game, seconds after checking in Banton connects on the shot from half-court!

- Dalano Banton, the first Canadian drafted by the Raptors in team history, steps onto the floor for his first regular-season minutes. 

- Scottie Barnes has been the highlight for the Raptors tonight. The rookie has been aggressively looking for his shot and getting to the basket. 

- Drake doing his best to help out the home team as Harrell is called for a technical.

- Achiuwa picks up his fourth foul early in the third. He stays in the game for now. 

Half-time: Wizards 57, Raptors 37

The Raptors go into the half trailing by 20 points, with their offence struggling to kick into gear. They've connected on just 15-of-15 (30 percent) from the field and 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) from the 3-point line. 

VanVleet leads the scoring with 12 points, while no other player has more than four points. 

Bradley Beal has a game-high 13 points for the Wizards, while Kyle Kuzma has 11 points and eight rebounds and Montrezl Harrell 10 points and seven boards. 

- And just like that, OG's on the board with an emphatic jam!

- Another miss from the corner for OG Anunoby. He's 0-of-6 to start this game.

- Some sloppy turnovers are starting to creep in for the Raptors and the Wizards are making them pay in transition. Beal gets out on the break and drops it off to Harrell for the jam and extends the lead to 12 points.

Harrell's got 10 points on 5-of-6 from the field, with little resistance at the rim.

- Nick Nurse called for a technical foul after disputing a foul call on Scottie Barnes. Bradley Beal converts the free throw.

- The Raptors come out of the break with a different energy snd start the period on a 7-0 run

End of first quarter: Wizards 26, Raptors 18

A tough start for the Raptors, shooting 29 percent (7-of-24) through the first 12 minutes. Meanwhile, the Wizards are getting plenty of easy looks, scoring 20 of their 26 points in the paint.

- Raul Neto is giving the Raps some trouble on defence. He's scored the last six points for the Wizards as they take their largest lead of the game at 26-18.

- Chris Boucher enters the game with 2:23 remaining in the quarter.

- Nice aggressive move to the basket from Scottie Barnes who gets the bucket to go, but it's waived off and he's called for an offensive foul. The No.4 pick has been lively to start the game, getting into the paint and facilitating the offence from the elbow. 

- Both teams are getting up and down the court in an end-to-end start to the game. Gary Trent Jr. converts the touchdown pass from VanVleet and the Raps cut it too two points.

- VanVleet has it going early for the Raptors with back-to-back buckets - a pull-up jumper and a nice finish at the rim. 

- Bradley Beal knifes through the Raptors defence for the easy layup to cap off another 7-0 run. Washington getting whatever they want inside early, with eight points in the paint. They lead 14-7.

- After the Wizards respond with a 7-0 run, Precious Achiuwa slams it down with his left hand to tie it up. He's been active on both ends to start the game, deflecting passes, hustling for rebounds and muscling into the paint. 

- Fred VanVleet gets the first bucket of the game from the 3-point line and we're underway!

Pregame

The Raptors will start Goran Dragic, Fred VanVleet, Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa.


The Wizards will start with Spencer Dinwiddie, Bradley Beal, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma and Daniel Gafford

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Benyam Kidane Photo

Benyam Kidane is a senior NBA editor for The Sporting News.