Almost everyone eats as the Wizards take Game 3 from the Raptors: 3 takeaways

The Wizards turned the series around, netting themselves a big win over the Raptors in Game 3.

The Wizards seemed doomed after the first two games of their series against the top-seeded Toronto Raptors. Washington lost Game 1 by eight points, and Game 2 by 11. Neither margin was overwhelming but the Wizards looked out of sorts and thoroughly unprepared to mount any sort of resistance against Toronto’s deep roster.

Boy, was this a narrative shift. Washington exploded with by far their best offensive game of the series, and came away with a 19-point win in what was an extremely physical and chippy game. The key was a huge third quarter that say the Wizards stretch their lead to as much as 18 points. Toronto fought back in the fourth but was never able to get the deficit down to a manageable level.

Washington still has a tough hill to climb but they’ve built some confidence and have another home game to try and even the series.

Takeaways

More eating for more Wizards! One of the biggest stories our of the Wizards Game 2 loss was Bradley Beal taking just 11 shots. Along with just 10 shots for Otto Porter and four for Marcin Gortat, a lot of the balance the Wizards had displayed in their starting lineup during the time when John Wall was out with injury. Wall again led Washington in shot attempts in Game 3, with 23, but Beal had 19, Gortat had 10, Kelly Oubre Jr. had nine off the bench, and Porter had seven. The Wizards have some very talented complementary scorers in their rotation, the more they use those players, the better off they are.

Next: Time's up for Damian Lillard

Toronto missed Fred VanVleet. He’s been one of their most important bench players this season and has a legitimate case for Sixth Man of the Year. VanVleet sat out Game 3 because of a shoulder contusion and it really through Toronto’s rotations out of whack. Delon Wright wasn’t nearly as effective without his normal backcourt partner and the bench, which has been a strength for Toronto all season, was badly outplayed by the Wizards. CJ Miles was a -22, Wright was a -15 and Jakob Poeltl was a -12 in this game, all players who typically rely on the rhythm VanVleet helps create.

Game 4 should be good. It looked like the Raptors might be ready to steamroll Washington but this series should definitely be more competitive from here on out. In addition to notching a win, the Wizards showed some competitive fire that had been lacking in the first two games and we had a few incidents that should add some extra heat to Game 4.

Sunday, 6:00 p.m. ET!