Paul Pierce buries Raptors again, Wizards hold on for 3-0 lead
The Toronto Raptors entered Friday’s Game 3 of their first-round series with the Washington Wizards down 2-0 and in clear desperation mode. For much of the game, they looked like the team that wanted it more. But that’s often not enough when the opponent has nearly every playmaker on the floor.
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Despite a late effort from the Raptors, the Wizards held on for a 106-99 win to move within one win of a four-game sweep. The dagger came from a familiar source — veteran forward Paul Pierce, hero of Game 1 and established Toronto antagonist. A Kyle Lowry three-pointer with 40 seconds left drew the Raptors to within 102-99, giving the Wizards one possession to put the game away or to allow the visitors a chance at sending it to overtime. With the shot clock winding down, Washington star John Wall found Pierce on the perimeter for a look at a three-pointer. The attempt was a bit awkward, but the result was just fine:
After a relatively quiet Game 2, Pierce returned to his efficient Game 1 scoring with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 from beyond the arc to give the Wizards an extra offensive weapon. With John Wall dominating proceedings for the second straight game, the Wizards were able to make enough plays in a tight game to grab a win at home and put themselves in fantastic position to close out this series very soon.
The Raptors deserve credit for not folding under terrible circumstances. After two disappointing losses at home to open the series, Toronto came out with a very good effort in the first quarter and scored 35 points in the first quarter behind quality shot-making from DeMar DeRozan, who went off for 20 in an excellent performance.
The problem for the Raptors was that they also gave up 33, which ended up being a more accurate indicator for the full game. DeRozan’s scoring tailed off quickly (he finished with 32 points on 11-of-29 shooting) and the Raptors struggled to just 39 points combined in the second and third quarters. At the other end, they had few answers for Wall, who put up 19 points (5-of-15 FG and 9-of-10 FT) but affected the game much more as a facilitator with 15 assists. Wall has clearly established himself as the best player in this series and a game-changer at both ends. This one-on-four fastbreak finish early in the fourth quarter provides a taste of what he can do:
The Raptors’ All-Star point guard has not fared quite so well. Kyle Lowry came into this series with an ailing back and struggled mightily in Games 1 and 2, but things got even worse for him in Game 3 due to pregame sickness. Although he helped spur the Raptors’ late comeback with five points on two buckets prior to Pierce’s dagger, Lowry shot just 5-of-22 from the field and 3-of-10 from beyond the arc for 15 points, seven assists, and four steals. He is now 10-of-42 (23.8 percent) from the field in the series, and those struggles are part of the reason that a typically impressive Raptors offense (third in offensive efficiency this season) has struggled so much in these three games. Toronto shot just 37.4 percent from the field, a catastrophic mark for a team that struggles to defend on even its best days.
The good news for Toronto is that they have now nearly won two games in the series. It’s not crazy to imagine them taking Sunday’s Game 4 and heading back to Canada at a 3-1 disadvantage with two home games left on the schedule. The Wizards have been a very good road playoff team in the last two years but are not world-beaters by any stretch. A mild return to form from Lowry and a few big games from other plays could get them right back into things. That’s a long shot, of course, but it’s the only scenario the Raptors have right now.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
