One night after the San Antonio Spurs scored 70 points in the first half against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Washington Wizards were held to 63 for the entire game by the Indiana Pacers to fall behind in a series for the first time in this year’s playoffs.
Their 63 points were the lowest in franchise postseason history and tied for the fourth-lowest playoff total since the NBA introduced the shot clock before the 1954-55 season.
Wizards Shooting - Game 3
In Close or Not at All
The Wizards were 13-for-19 in the restricted area, but made only 11 of 54 shots from five feet or further away.
After making 10 three-pointers in their Game 1 win, Washington has gone 9-for-37 outside the arc in the last two games.
John Wall and Bradley Beal both struggled away from the basket, hitting just 23 percent (6-of-26) of their outside the restricted area. In the first two games of the series, they combined to hit 33 percent of such shots.
George, Hibbert Come Through
Paul George scored a game-high 23 points after scoring a combined 29 points in the first two games of the series. He averaged 23.9 points in the First Round.
Unlike Beal and Wall, George shot well outside the paint, where he made 38 percent of his shots (5-of-13), including two three-pointers.
After scoring 28 points in Game 2, Roy Hibbert added 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting Friday. He has reached double figures in three of the last four games after being held in single digits each of the first six games of this year’s postseason.
