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Wizards vs. Raptors Game 4 preview: Washington looks to even series on Sunday night

The Wizards need to keep playing like it’s Game 7.

By Albert Lee
Toronto Raptors v Washington Wizards - Game Three Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

The Wizards won big against the Raptors in Game 3. But now it’s time to even up the series in Game 4 on Sunday. Here’s a preview:

Game Info

Date and Time: Sunday, April 22, 2018 at 6 p.m. ET

TV/Streaming: NBC Sports Washington locally in the D.C. area and TNT throughout the United States.

For our Wizards fans in Toronto, you can tune to SportsNet One.

Injuries: For the Raptors, Fred VanVleet has a shoulder injury. For the Wizards, they’re all good, but Jodie Meeks is suspended due to drug testing violations.

What to Watch For

Can John Wall and Bradley Beal remain in form? - The starting backcourt scored a combined 56 points on Friday. This needs to continue on Sunday for them to have a chance.

Which backup guard can step up? Tomas Satoransky and Tim Frazier hardly played on Friday while Ty Lawson had a “crashing back to Earth” performance on Friday scoring five points on 1 of 4 shooting. In Game 3, the Wizards didn’t need any of these three to contribute, but Wall and Beal will certainly need some rest when they can for the rest of the series.

Can or will Marcin Gortat show that Friday wasn’t a fluke? The Polish Machine had a vintage game on Friday where he scored 16 points from shooting 8 of 10 from the field. But it doesn’t erase the fact that he’s still outmatched by Jonas Valanciunas and was held scoreless in Game 2. I don’t think we’ll see 20 point and 10 rebound nights on the regular from Gortat, but hopefully he can at least slow down Valanciunas a little like on Friday. Valanciunas scored 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting, but he only grabbed 5 rebounds, so I’ll take that.

Random moment in the Wizards vs. Raptors series

The Wizards had a strong three point shooting night against the Raptors in Game 4 of their first round playoff series in 2015. But Marcin Gortat had 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists in the game that clinched a sweep. I don’t expect the Wizards to blow out the Raptors in Game 4 this time, but I would like Gortat to find this form for the rest of the series.