Wizards Beat Raptors 118–117 When Shead’s Basket at Buzzer Ruled Late

Toronto Raptors centre Jakob Poeltl defends against Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole (13) during the first half of NBA action in Toronto on Saturday, March 8, 2025. Thomas Skrlj/The Canadian Press via AP

TORONTO—Jordan Poole scored 34 points and the NBA-worst Washington Wizards won their second straight game, beating Toronto 118–117 on Saturday night when Raptors guard Jamal Shead’s running layup at the buzzer was ruled to be late.

The teams will meet again Monday night in Toronto.

Bilal Coulibaly added 18 points and 10 rebounds to help Washington improve to 13–49 with its second straight victory. The Wizards beat Utah at home Wednesday night before heading off to Toronto for the start of a seven-game trip that also has a two-game set in Detroit and games at Denver, Portland and Utah.

RJ Barrett led Toronto with 23 points, and Jakob Poeltl added 21. The Raptors beat Utah at home the night before for their third straight victory.

Takeaways

Wizards: Poeltl was giving Washington fits, but when he was benched for the rest of the night because of a minutes limit, Washington took advantage.

Raptors: Toronto was without several players, including Immanuel Quickley (rest), Gradey Dick (right knee bone bruise), Ochai Agbaji (left ankle sprain), Ja’Kobe Walter (right hip flexor), and Jonathan Mogbo (nasal fracture).

Key moment

Shead’s teammates rushed the court after he appeared to hit the buzzer-beater for the victory. However, a video review found that the ball was still in his hand when the buzzer sounded.

Up next

The teams will meet again Monday night at Scotiabank Arena.