Raptors at Wizards
The Washington Wizards are confident they can force a do-or-die Game 7 with the Toronto Raptors and they'll get a chance to do just that when they host Game 6 on Friday. "We love our chances," point guard John Wall told reporters of the eighth-seeded Wizards' quest to stave off elimination at home. "We're very confident."
Washington won games 3 and 4 at home before the Raptors seized a 3-2 series advantage with Wednesday's 108-98 win in Toronto, but the Wizards are victorious in their last eight playoff games in the nation's capital. DeMar DeRozan scored 32 points and handed out five assists to lead the top-seeded Raptors in the critical Game 5 win. Delon Wright chipped in 18 points in 26 minutes off the bench in the win, eliciting some trash talk from Wizards forward Kelly Oubre Jr. that should add some spice to what has been a contentious series at times. "The next game is a different story," Oubre told the media of Wright. "We're back at home. Just like Delon doesn't play well anywhere else, you know, other than at home. You can kind of chalk it up as the same story."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBATV, ESPNews, Sportsnet (Toronto), NBCS Washington
ABOUT THE RAPTORS: Coach Dwane Casey discovered something down the stretch in Game 5 with an odd grouping of DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, C.J. Miles, center Jonas Valanciunas - who had yet to play in the fourth quarter this series - and Wright. "I thought Delon Wright did a good job down the stretch handling the ball," Casey told reporters. "It gave us an opportunity for Kyle and DeMar to get off the ball a little bit more and I thought that was the difference." Valanciunas is averaging 13.4 points on 61.4 percent shooting to go along with 8.8 rebounds in the series.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS: Oubre, who is 3-of-16 from 3-point range in the series, might gain a larger role if fellow forward Otto Porter Jr. is unable to go. Porter has been wrestling with a bone bruise in his left leg and will be reassessed Friday, and coach Scott Brooks knows he needs more from the Georgetown product, who averaged 14.7 points this season but has been held to single digits three times in the series. "We need Otto to be more than a 9-10 point scorer for us to win this series," Brooks told reporters.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. DeRozan is averaging 28.8 points in the series while making 10-of-22 3-pointers.
2. Wizards SG Bradley Beal averaged 29.5 points on 52.6 percent shooting in his team's two wins in the series.
3. Toronto PG Fred VanVleet (shoulder) missed the last three games and is listed as questionable for Game 6.