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Win Or Go Home For Raptors In Game Four

Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com

After falling 106-99 in Game 3 thanks to late daggers from Otto Porter and Paul Pierce, there isn’t much left for the Raptors to say. They need to win. Now.

“Literally win or go home,” Kyle Lowry emphasized. 

While Lowry hasn’t admitted any ailments, it’s obvious he hasn’t been himself through the first three games of this series. His inability to be the player that has led the team all season has been the biggest issue for Toronto, but it hasn’t been the only one.

Lou Williams and DeMar DeRozan continue to miss shots they made during the regular season. After Williams, DeRozan, Lowry and Terrence Ross combined to shoot 15-for-57 in Game 1, the Raptors were positive they’d find their groove in Game 2. With three games and three losses, save for DeRozan’s hot opening quarter on Friday night, Toronto’s scorers are unable to put the ball through the basket.

“Everything that could go bad for us went bad for us in these three games,” DeRozan said. “Luck’s got to turn for us at some point. We faced it all year, been in situations where we had to get out of them. We just haven’t got blessed with the opportunity yet in the playoffs. We’re still optimistic on that happening.”

John Wall was an All-Star for the Wizards once again in Game 3, scoring 19 points to go with 15 assists. The Raptors did a good job on Bradley Beal who shot just 4-for-12, but Pierce and Porter continue to give the Raptors trouble. Porter, especially, has been an X factor for Washington. 

Casey said the second-year player looks like a different person than the one the Raptors saw in the regular season.

“He’s the guy who has made big plays,” Casey said. “Not only shots, but big plays, winning plays, rebounding, defending.”

Although the final minute was deflating, the Raptors went through Saturday’s practice focused on how they can steal a win in Game 4 and move the series back to Toronto.

“We’ve just got to go out there and try to get one game,” Lowry said. “Whatever it takes. Try to get one game. We know close out games to win the series is always the toughest game to win for the other team. We’ve got to go out there and make it as tough as possible.”

Despite coming up short after giving their best effort this series, DeRozan waved off statistics about teams failing to return from 0-3 deficits. Instead he chose to focus on what the team can control heading into Game 4.

“We’re still going out there to play,” DeRozan said. “There’s still an opportunity for us to keep it going. We all understand that. We played hard last night. We played extremely hard last night, it’s just they hit some big shots.”

Lowry called the playoffs “a completely different animal” than the regular season and acknowledged how frustrating it is that Toronto has been unable to get on the same page so far this postseason. While the Wizards and Raptors both struggled in the second half of the season, Washington is figuring things out when it matters.

“You’ve got to give credit where it’s due,” Williams said. “The first three games, they’ve come out extremely focused and played three really good basketball games. At the same time we’re still fighting.”