In fight to stay alive, Wizards set tone for chippy series vs. Raptors

With their backs against the wall, the Washington Wizards understood they needed to modify their approach against the Toronto Raptors in order to have any chance in the first-round matchup.

Down 0-2 with the series swinging to the nation's capital on Friday night, Markieff Morris was determined to change his team's fate by getting chippy with the No. 1-seeded Raptors. To help avoid going down 0-3 - a deficit no NBA team has ever overcome to win a series - Morris got the extracurricular activities started early, initiating a shoving match with rookie OG Anunoby less than three minutes into the affair.

"I felt like (Anunoby) really went high with his elbow. That's what really got me started," Morris said postgame, as quoted by ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz.

"We needed some physicality. I felt like when we played them in Toronto, they did everything too freely. So this is me trying to set the tone for how we need to play the whole series, especially on Sunday (Game 4)."

Serge Ibaka also went after Morris, while an excitable John Wall had to be restrained by Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. Morris and Anunoby were assessed technical fouls for the scuffle, ending a streak of 98 drama-free (or at least tech-free) minutes to begin the series.

Marcin Gortat appreciated Morris' efforts to get the Wizards going, while noting it's far from a new practice for the power forward, who finished with the sixth-most techs in the NBA with 13 during the regular season.

"It sounds crazy, but sometimes we need that," Gortat said. "We need that. The crazy part is that it's always (Morris). ... He did that for us, and he took a big hit today and foul trouble. He sacrificed himself for the team."

With the tone set, other skirmishes broke out later in the contest. In the third quarter, Jonas Valanciunas was called for an offensive foul when he decked Gortat inside. The frustrated Lithuanian then played an impromptu game of "keep away" with Bradley Beal, who kept swiping for the ball and wrapped up Valanciunas before teammates, coaches, and referees once again swarmed in to try to restore order.

Wall, apparently intent on getting in on the action, then engaged in some trash talk with Ibaka, who tried to charge at the point guard but was held back by Washington's team security official, Dave Best.

Delighted by the Wizards' moxie and command of the game, fans in Capital One Arena crowd broke into a "U-S-A" chant and the arena blasted Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." against the Raptors - the only non-American NBA team, though two-thirds of their players hail from the States.

As a result of the fracas, Wall and Ibaka were assessed double-technical fouls and Beal earned a T for provoking Valanciunas, though he said he was just trying to get the ball. The events galvanized the Wizards into shutting down the Raptors, who had gotten within five points early in the quarter but found themselves down 19 by the end of it.

Beal wasn't just targeting Raptors, either. After Lowry swiped at Beal's head while the latter attempted a breakaway layup, the first-time All-Star immediately charged toward official Gary Zielinski and had to be pushed back by crew chief Ken Mauer. Lowry was eventually called for a flagrant-1 foul.

Related - Beal: Brooks apologized for not drawing up more plays for me in Game 2

In addition to keeping the refs busy and providing entertainment for the fans, the Wizards found success with gritty play at both ends of the court en route to a 122-103 victory. Entering the contest, they had the worst defensive rating in the playoffs after allowing the Raptors to average 122 points on 52.4 percent shooting from the field and a blistering 44.6 percent rate from 3-point territory.

In Game 3, those numbers dipped to 103 points on 45.1 percent shooting from the field and 42.9 percent from long range. Meanwhile, Toronto surrendered 122 points to the Wizards on 55.3 percent shooting - 75 percent from within 5 feet of the rim - and 43.5 percent from deep. Beal bounced back from one of the worst outings of his career with 28 points, four assists, four rebounds, and three steals, while Wall matched him with 28 points of his own and 14 dimes. Perhaps most surprisingly, Washington's bench outscored the Raptors' famed "Bench Mob," 35-32.

If Morris' scrappy scheme goes as planned, his side will bring the same intensity Sunday in Game 4 in a bid to even the series.