TORONTO –- As Paul Pierce walked to the visitor's locker room after the Washington Wizards seized control of this series from Toronto, the savvy veteran let it be known that he would love to not have to return to Canada.
"I don't want to go through customs no more," Pierce was heard shouting.
If the John Wall who took all the air out of the Air Canada Centre shows up for Games 3 and 4 in Washington, this first-round series won't make it out of the nation's capital.
One game after scoring just 10 points, Wall dominated Toronto and his All-Star point guard counterpart Kyle Lowry for 26 points and a playoff career-high 17 assists to help Washington to a 117-106 victory and a 2-0 lead in this best-of-seven series.
"I mean he's the best passer in the game," an impressed Pierce said of Wall. "He led the league in assists (actually he was second to Chris Paul). When he is going like that, when you see him racking up the assists like that and then putting the scoring with it, I mean he's the best point guard in the league.
"Just the combination of those two things and the defense, I don't see a better point guard and he showed it tonight."
In today's golden age of point guards, that's saying quite a bit. But Wall left no argument about who has owned the matchup that is going to decide this series. In a battle of two Eastern Conference All-Star point guards, Wall has destroyed Lowry in the first two games.
Lowry, who is battling a left shin contusion, has scored a total of 13 points while shooting a combined 5-for-20 in this series. Wall followed up a 5-for-18 shooting effort in Game 1 by making 8-of-16 shots, including two 3-pointers.
But he attacked the soft Toronto defense to go to the line 11 times. Wall, who still impacted Game 1 with eight assists and six rebounds, wasn't settling for what Toronto was going to give him defensively.
Toronto coach Dwane Casey said Wall and Russell Westbrook are the two fastest players with a basketball on the planet, and the Raptors have been on their heels all series scrambling to get back and keep the quickest player on the floor out of the paint.
The 6-foot-4 Wall has always been a tantalizing combination of warp speed, athleticism and size since Washington landed him as the No. 1 overall pick in 2010.
But now Wall is maturing and beginning to look like he's putting it together in his fifth season. After taking Washington to the second round last year, the point guard wants to take that next step to the Eastern Conference finals and lift the Wizards to heights they haven't seen since Wes Unseld was a Bullet in the late 1970's.
And on nights like this when Bradley Beal scores 28 with such an effortless-looking jump shot, Washington's backcourt looks downright scary.
During their first postseason run, Wizards coach Randy Wittman saw something different.
"At this time a year ago, he and John were scared of ... what's the term I want to use without getting in trouble ... it's [just] totally different," said Wittman, who now is 7-1 on the road in the postseason. "Just that experience is huge for them to get a playoff series win too and get into the second round with the top seed last year ... You can't replace experience. They are two different people now coming into this year."
Wall is adapting to defenses almost as quickly as he can get to the rim. In Game 1, Wall said he didn't adjust properly to Toronto's traps off pick and rolls. Pierce urged Wall to be more aggressive with his shot when Toronto went under on their pick-and-roll coverage.
In Game 2, the Raptors had no answer for Wall and Beal. The duo should feel even more comfortable at home and that spells disaster for Toronto.
"Just as a player, I improved," Wall said of the difference of this postseason for him. "Every year I have gotten better and my teammates believe in me. Without those guys I can't be the John Wall that I want to be in this league."
While Pierce saw the best point guard in the league on Monday night in Toronto, Wizards teammate Drew Gooden didn't want to go that far.
"When you can control the ball and have close to 30 points let alone dish out 17 assists, I mean that's a machine at the point guard position," Gooden said. "[But] I don't want to gas him up right now because I want him to continue to work."
If Wall keeps working like this, Pierce won't have to get his passport out until vacation time.
