 | Toronto | 103 | Final Box Score | 122 | Washington |  |
 C- | S. Ibaka28 MIN, 3 PTS, 6 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 1-4 FG, 0-1 3FG, 1-2 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -4 +/- Serge blocking would-be dunks by middling Wizards is the vibe, Serge taking the bait of middling Wizards is not. If Washington knows they can goad him that easily they’re going to do it as long as they can get away with it. There’s something to be said for not backing down in a playoff game but for a veteran, Ibaka can seem not all that savvy when it comes to picking his spots. Also he fumbled everything he touched from the half on. | |
 A- | O. Anunoby26 MIN, 12 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 4-5 FG, 2-3 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -6 +/- Everybody protecting the rook! Markieff, then once they got wise to it, every Wizard, seemed to have it out for Anunoby. Despite the early and continued tone of the game, Anunoby stayed coolest of the team and tried to dig in wherever he could. | |
 A | J. Valanciunas23 MIN, 14 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 6-8 FG, 1-1 3FG, 1-1 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 0 +/- Jonas was LIVING off the jump, coming in with presence and full intention. Unfortunately that wavered when the team did, and Valančiūnas is strongest when his team is together. JV came out to play tonight and got shafted. | |
 C+ | K. Lowry35 MIN, 19 PTS, 4 REB, 8 AST, 3 STL, 6-14 FG, 5-8 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 5 TO, -4 +/- What a diffusion early on by Lowry, yanking all his guys into a huddle after Markieff Morris went for the chilliest of them all—OG. This is leadership Lowry at his best, the guy who used to be the one reacting now taking charge of the charged up moment. It was a mood that didn’t carry, though, and Lowry lost the juice. That leadership started to snag in the unnecessary tangles Lowry began to get himself into, and he had no solution for clamping down on the amped up turnovers by his team, either. | |
 B | D. DeRozan35 MIN, 23 PTS, 3 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 10-22 FG, 1-3 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 BLK, 3 TO, -17 +/- We saw him hot early on in the first half, hitting key shots and grounding the game, but then he just… vanished. The Wizards were watching him closely and while he’s this team’s buoy and anchor, he can’t be both at once nor expected to carry the team on his stamina alone. The calls weren’t coming, and it’s not like he tends to rely on them, but his frustration was evident long before the last buzzer. His numbers weren’t bad but it just wasn’t enough. | |
 C | C. Miles23 MIN, 9 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 2-7 FG, 1-5 3FG, 4-5 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -22 +/- With Washington chasing him off the line every chance they had he didn’t seem 100% sure of his fit on the floor, and he was wasting time waiting around trying to figure it out. Even his old standby of | |
 C+ | D. Wright19 MIN, 6 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2-8 FG, 0-2 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -15 +/- A very quiet game for Wright, with none of the energy and flare he was bringing to the last two games at home. Wright looked slow on all fronts. Waiting for calls that weren’t coming, watching plays from the wings instead of leading them. | |
 C+ | P. Siakam16 MIN, 5 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 2-3 FG, 1-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -7 +/- Sans spice. Very mild. Siakam seemed almost hesitant in the windows open for him to show up. | |
 B+ | L. Brown12 MIN, 2 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-5 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 0 +/- The G-League MVP came out swinging, leading the charge for the attempted 4th quarter comeback. It was a hopeful injection of energy that didn’t catch and it might be worth looking at where he can fit in some breather rotations if some of the regular bench keeps coming in flat. | |
 B- | J. Poeltl10 MIN, 5 PTS, 4 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 2-3 FG, 0-0 3FG, 1-1 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, -11 +/- Mein bud looked a bit shook starting out, flat more than jittery. He’s been getting into foul trouble this series and hasn’t quite figured out how to bounce back from it yet. | |
 B | N. Powell6 MIN, 5 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-3 FG, 1-3 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -2 +/- He hit a 3! I don’t know, what do you say anymore? I still have faith Powell will give this team a playoffs game with his whole heart like we know him to be capable of. | |
 Inc | L. Nogueira5 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -7 +/- He was there but the numbers and my eyes reflect that he… wasn’t. Truly an unsolved mystery, maybe the premise of a ‘Scandal’ spinoff. | |
 B- | Dwane Casey This one wasn’t entirely on Casey, even if he was a bit slow to throw a wrench in the spokes of the Wizards turnover wagon and kept on with the Lowry and bench unit a little too long, you can’t coach taking better care of the ball if you’re not the one handling it. But no more cross-paint passes, please. | |
Things We Saw
- Turnovers!!: Watching this felt like whiplash. A sloppy pass, a missed rebound, and Washington was off and running—over and over again. Toronto looked too spread out on the floor or else not enough, gathering in the paint with no one at half court in case Wall or Oubre ran it out. It wasn’t the careful, considered playing the Raptors have been utilizing thus far and they got pushed around for it.
- Muscle and mind games: The Wizards knew it’d be good to rattle the Raptors, they probably didn’t think it would be so easy. Going into Game 3 the energy was high enough you knew there was a good chance things were gonna get chippy, but instead of being like the river and running with it the Raptors bought into the bad stuff. The bench seemed especially shook, and without Fred there to steady they were lacking a definitive leader throughout.
- You Shall Not Pass: The Wizards were chasing the Raptors off the three point line like their lives depended on it, because they sort of did. In the end it worked and rather than start driving to the basket and playing the physical game, Toronto took gross three after gross three.
- Hustle: The Raptors didn’t have it, the Wizards did. It looked like they might be able to eke out keeping close and scraping by at first, but this was the first game where another team had a few days to figure them out, and Toronto didn’t have an answer for it.
