No team has ever came back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series, and the Wizards are on track to keep that statistic as is. The Wizards dominated the Raptors for a large part of the 106-99 victory after coming out to a slow start in the first quarter.
After losing the first quarter 35-33, Washington held the Raptors to only 13 points in the second quarter. This set the game defensively for the Wizards, and made them realize they could stop DeMar DeRozan, who scored 20 of his 32 points in the first quarter.
Although Washington played well throughout the entirety of the game, they won the game in the fourth quarter, where they beat Toronto 34-29. At one point, they led by 8 points in the fourth, and it seemed they were bound to blow the lead as they had previously in the series, but then something magical happened. They held on and took over rather than let the Raptors continue to dominate in the fourth quarter in games during the series.
Once again, Paul Pierce’s intensity and leadership got the Wizards through the fourth quarter and the rest of the game. He scored 18 points, including a three-point shot that went down as the shot clock was going off with barely any time left. Pierce really does not want to go through customs again, and is playing as hard as he can to make sure he can stay in the US for the rest of his playoff run.
The starting backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal continued to show growth in the win. Beal dropped 16 while Wall added in 18 to provide Washington the boost they needed to gain a lead. This backcourt is just begging to tap into their potential, and will be the face of DC for many years to come.
Marcin Gortat was born for the playoffs, and is playing like he wants to secure another $60 million contract. He led the team in scoring with 24 points in 41 minutes, while also grabbing a team-high 13 rebounds, assisting on 5 shots, and blocking the Raptors’ shots 4 times. Bringing Gortat back to Washington was a great move, and is certainly proving to be the right one.
On Sunday, the Wizards look to pull off the first 4 game sweep in franchise history. They have pulled a sweep in a best-of-5 series, but have never done so in the best-of-7 game format. They have an opportunity to close the series out at home, and let the home crowd watch history being made.
