Playoffs! Round 1, Game 3: Toronto Raptors 103 - Washington Wizards 122 (TOR 2-1)

[GOLDBLUM]

Yeah, in the end I think it came down to the Wiz players just simply wanting it more tonight, as cliche as that sounds. Giving up 69 points in the first half was the telltale sign.

I agree. I said it before, we were so composed at home and everything was clicking. We couldn't get anything set up tonight, we were scrambling and playing frantically and frenetically. At home we pushed the play, tonight they fully controlled the dynamic of this game. .... Where did Ibaka go???? He was amazing in those first two games. He was a total no show tonight. Gotta want it more.

I'm not worried long term but I fear we'll have some struggles yet before all is said and done. We all know Delon, as great as he's been the first two games, isn't gonna give you that kind of lights-out shooting every single night. What was so great about our bench in the regular season was that it was somebody different stepping up and making a big difference every other game. Literally. One day it's FVV, then Siakam, Poeltl, CJ, then Wright. Problem is, with FVV out, their cohesiveness falls apart a bit and suddenly nobody's able to step forward on a night like tonight.

Anyhow, not at all worried about the series. Too bad our revenge won't include the sweep. Hope the next game we can settle things down though and regain some of that composure that makes our second unit so outstanding. Come back soon, Steady Freddy.

Thanks for the two big wins to open the series Dan. You made history and you deserved better tonight.
That's playoffs though. It's a war.

Go get em planetmars.

[veda-parabolist]

Happy that some here are trying to look at the positive sides of it. On that note, I was impressed to start the game how our starters were flat-out fundamentally beating them for the first 8-9 minutes or so before the bench was brought in. Literally every game this series the starters have come out strong. And really, in those first 8 minutes or so tonight, we had opened up a 9-point lead and just in all aspects our team looked better than theirs. I mean, when JV drove all the way from the 3-point line on Gortat, the Wiz looked pretty demoralized. (for instance).

From my perspective (and I'm sure plenty of others saw it the same way), the bench came in, coughed it up, and.... once the Wiz had some momentum for pretty much the first time this series, they cruised on that momentum and the starters even couldn't really stop the bleeding when they came in later. Casey probably should have brought the starters back quicker, but.... our bench has been good all season of course.

A positive take-away is that, at many times this season it was questionable whether our starters were even up to the task (when in so many games the bench had to bail us out), but they have looked pretty much, flat-out solid in these 3 games (with guys like OG, Ibaka (in the first 2 games), and JV being great).

Frankly, it comes down to the understanding that FVV is integral for us to have real bench cohesiveness and success (Miles and Delon hit big shots in the first 2 games, but FVV really can run that offense), and hopefully he is also the key to getting Yak and P to play.... not terribly.

Too bad that FVV is hurt. Hopefully he comes back soon, giving us our lethal bench unit back, or at least one that can compete and not cough up the lead.

Another + is that we saw that we *can* win without FVV, and win convincingly (as in game 2). Let's hope things go more smoothly on Sunday.

[Scraptor]

I had a feeling we would drop this one; wizs were just plain desperate and hungrier coming in.

One thing the Raps need to watch for is washington trying to throw them off mentally by trying to pick up fights, get in their heads etc. Raps is the better team, has more chemistry, is deeper, and has a healthier locker room. I know this is a known playoff tactic, but we're the better team, and we shouldn't sink to their level. If the Raps stay grounded/focused and play their game, this will be over rather quickly.

The 3 main telltale signs of a "mental"/concentration Loss were there today imo: Excessive turnovers, poor group defence, and repeated fouling.

This is actually a good opportunity to toughen them up mentally and be in better shape next round.

True, but the one thing I loved about this game is that despite our sloppy play, when the Wizards challenged us, our guys showed FIGHT. OG, JV, Ibaka... For so many years in the past we've had so many nice guys that we barely stood up for ourselves.

This time the Wizards wanted to be bitches and we showed that we don't back down. We showed real fire, and we're going to need that when the going gets tough.

This series felt sort of humdrum before tonight, but now I really hope we make them eat shit.

[Mack North]

Soooooo... who gets that game 4 thread? Who deserves the shot? You think you're worthy?!?!

[GOLDBLUM]

Soooooo... who gets that game 4 thread? Who deserves the shot? You think you're worthy?!?!

planetmars is next on the slate, according to popular demand/accomplishments/democracy.

[Mack North]

planetmars is next on the slate, according to popular demand/accomplishments/democracy.

Well... tick tock, tick tock, mang!

[KeonClark]

Well... tick tock, tick tock, mang!

He'll be here

He's flying back from mars

[Mack North]

He'll be here

He's flying back from mars

I can't keep waiting all night. I've had a lot of beers tonight and was embarrassed to leave the bar filled with old white losers that already hate basketball. We can't keep rehashing this terrible game 3(even though I'm sure most of us knew we were gonna get the Whiz's best shot tonight).

Anyhow, if a new game thread isn't created by 6pm Sunday, I think I deserve a shot. I won a free ticket on LottoMax last week and I think I can continue the hot streak. [emoji41]

[Fully]

Do you think it was good game management to let the bench get massacred while the Starters got cold and Washington built a confidence they literally haven't shown at all so far in this series?

I don't think hate has anything to do with it. It was poor game management, plain and simple.

It's largely the same rotation that helped build us a 2-0 series lead and had people heaping praise/penning articles about how we were the deepest team in the playoffs. Generally speaking, it's really easy to look back at a game with the gift of hindsight and say that a coach should have done X, Y and Z once you know the result. Everyone suspected Washington to come out as a very motivated group tonight and what do you know, it happened. Maybe there was a move or two Casey could have pulled out to change last night's result or maybe it just wasn't our night . Overall I'd prefer to wait and see what happens in game four and the remainder of the series before we start calling Casey an idiot.

[Zainab]

redeem yo self!

[JimiCliff]

What I don't understand about last night is the turnovers. The team was so shaky handling the ball. Physically, so sloppy - it looked like they'd all greased their hands. Mentally, so dull - playing like they'd just got back from a root canal and the happy gas hadn't worn off yet.

[JimiCliff]

Also: Powell deserves those minutes above Brown. He's earned them. We wouldn't have won several playoff series without him. He's proven he can produce in big games. It isn't right that he's getting nailed to the bench in the second half.

[JimiCliff]

Plus/Minus

The good:

JV +0 / 23 mins
Lowry -4 / 34 mins
Ibaka -4 / 28 mins
OG -6 / 26 mins

The bad:

CJ -22 / 23 mins
Demar -17 / 35 mins
Delon -15 / 19 mins
Yak - 11 / 9 mins

[Superjudge]

Raps got dismantled. Fair enough.

BUT.....

They did NOT get pushed around. I read the post game quotes, the Washington players clearly stated they were doing it on purpose, and so, the push back from Toronto was perfect, shows they have matured and will not be intimidated.

You don't win um all, and sometimes the takeaway isn't always statistical. The Raps will sort it out and play better, but everyone knows now that they are tough as nails.

[JimiCliff]

Brooks on Gortat's success: "I think he got an age-appropriate haircut."

— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) April 21, 2018