Raptors at Wizards
The Washington Wizards decided to get physical with the Toronto Raptors in Game 3 and it worked, giving the Wizards a chance to even their best-of-seven first-round series when the teams meet for Game 4 in the nation's capital on Sunday. In a game that featured five technical fouls and plenty of chippy action, the eighth-seeded Wizards routed the Raptors 122-103 on Friday to pull within 2-1 in the series.
"They came out and punched us," Toronto coach Dwane Casey - whose team averaged 122 points in two victories at home to start the series - told reporters. "And we allowed them to." John Wall and Bradley Beal scored 28 points apiece for Washington, which shot 55.3 percent overall and scored at least 30 points in each of the first three quarters. The top-seeded Raptors received 23 points from DeMar DeRozan and 19 points and eight assists from Kyle Lowry but their vaunted bench struggled to shoot 10-for-29 with none of the seven reserves scoring in double figures. That unit is usually led by backup guard Fred VanVleet, but he missed his second game in the series due to a bruised shoulder and is considered day-to-day.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, TNT, Sportsnet One (Toronto), NBCS Washington
ABOUT THE RAPTORS: DeRozan and Lowry combined for eight of Toronto's 18 turnovers and they know that taking care of the basketball is paramount against a team that likes to run. "We didn't take care of the ball at all. That was the game," DeRozan said. "They fed off that. They got out in transition, where they're at their best, and it killed us." Serge Ibaka, who scored 23 points in Game 1, was held to three points on 1-of-4 shooting in the loss while committing three turnovers, his highest total in that category in a span of 14 games.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS: Beal, who averaged 28.8 points in four meetings with the Raptors during the regular season, produced a total of 28 through the first two games of the series before breaking out Friday. "Brad came in and played well," coach Scott Brooks told the media. "We needed him. I took a lot of the blame talking to him that I needed to get him involved more, and we did that early in the game, and it paid off." Wall added 14 assists in the rout and he is averaging 26.7 points, 12.7 assists and 2.7 steals in the series.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Wizards PF Mike Scott is 18-of-24 from the field in the series, including 6-of-7 from 3-point range.
2. DeRozan is averaging 25.7 points in the series and has made 6-of-14 3-pointers.
3. Washington C Marcin Gortat had 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting in Game 3 after being held scoreless in 12 minutes of Game 2.