The Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards are playing Game 3 and Game 4 live on the NBA playoffs schedule in the first round on Friday and the weekend and the matchups from the Verizon Center have the Wiz leading and the third matchup starts at 8 pm ET on ESPN2 and streaming on the WatchESPN website for the eastern conference finals.
The Wizards come into the game 3 matchup after winning the first two on the road and now they are up 2-0 in the series. The matchup in Game 2 saw Bradley Beal have a strong matchup with 28 points, while John Wall added 17 assists and Otto Porter had nine rebounds. Beal has been a difference maker and Wall has been all over the floor making plays in the series. DeMar DeRozan did what he could with 20 points, four rebounds and seven assists, but it wasn't enough for Toronto.
The Wizards scored just 20 points in the fourth quarter, but they had a big enough lead and they ended up winning 117-106 in the game. The team was down in the start of the second quarter, but the Raptors were held back and Washington outscored them in that quarter 34 to 18 and that ended up being the major difference.
The Wizards had lost all but one meeting with the Raptors coming into the series over the last eight games, but that did not shake the confidence of the team and they come out with two wins in two games and now have the chance for three in a row. The Raptors have not looked like a complete team and Kyle Lowry has been outplayed by John Wall so far. Toronto was a strong three point shooting team in the regular season and now they will try and get that going for the playoffs.
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The Wizards were slumping towards the end of the season, but they have jumped into high gear and now have the chance to take a commanding lead in the series. The Raptors had a better overall regular season than the Wizards and Toronto won their division, but now it's all about survival and they have to find a way to win on the road.
Washington was a mess at the end of the season on the road and they lost all but four of their final 19 away from Toronto. Now the team has to find a way to get things done, or they will basically be done in the playoffs. The team lost in seven last year to the Nets and now they are trying to at least make things a competition against the Wizards.
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