The Washington Wizards are in a hole. Down two games to none, the team returns home for Friday’s Game 3. Win, and they ensure at least another trip to Toronto and a chance to make this a series. Lose, and they are in a much deeper, almost suffocating hole.

Here’s everything you need to know for Friday’s game. This story will have live updates throughout, and join the conversation in the comments below. Can the Wizards get back into this thing?

Game 3 overview

Toronto Raptors (No. 1 seed, 59-23, 1st in Atlantic Division) at Washington Wizards (No. 8 seed, 43-39, 2nd in Southeast Division)
Date and time: Friday, 8 p.m.
Channel: NBCSW and ESPN2
Location: Capital One Arena
Regular season series: Wizards 2, Raptors 2

Previous series results

Game 1: at Raptors 114, Wizards 106
Game 2: at Raptors 130, Wizards 119

Remaining schedule

Game 4: Sunday at Washington, 6 p.m., NBCSW and TNT
Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, April 25, at Toronto, time TBD, NBCSW
Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, April 27, at Washington, time TBD, NBCSW
Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, April 29, at Toronto, time and television TBD

Pregame reading

>> “If they don’t get to the conference finals, I do believe that a major change has to happen.” That’s former Wizards forward Paul Pierce’s assessment of the team, suggesting John Wall and Bradley Beal possibly “break up.”

>> The Raptors have outscored Washington 72-50 in first quarters. Needless to say, ahead of Game 3 Friday night at Capital One Arena, the Wizards are looking to reverse their bad starts.

>> In the moments after the Game 2 loss, Coach Scott Brooks . The 6-11 Gortat has struggled in the series (6.5 points and four rebounds), while the 6-8 Scott has been outstanding (17 points per game on a scorching 70 percent shooting and 80 percent from three-point range). If the Wizards do decide to make a change, .

>> The Wizards need to turn up the defense if they hope to get back into this series. Problem is, that’s a very big ask. According to Neil Greenberg, the biggest liabilities for Washington in the half court are Kelly Oubre Jr., Markieff Morris, Marcin Gortat and Bradley Beal. All four rank in the bottom 20 percent of NBA players in the postseason for points allowed per possessions and each is hurting the Wizards in different ways.

>> The Wizards didn’t seem disappointed by their Game 2 loss, so Jerry Brewer wonders: maybe they’re too chill for their own good? “It would be understandable if they had reason to brush off the game as an aberration, if they were a team that didn’t have recurring problems with focus and transferring preparation onto the court. But that is part of their enigmatic identity. You needed the reassurance of feeling their emotions and sensing their urgency. You will have to trust them, however. Good luck.”

>> Any way you judge the Wizards — with or without John Wall, at their best or worst, home or road, bickering or harmonious, big game or run-of-the-mill affair — they do one thing with stunning consistency: Flub the fourth quarter. They close games like they are trying to slam the heaviest door ever made. If they don’t summon more late-game strength, their season of what ifs and not quites will end with a few last “We had ’em, but . . . ” regrets, writes Jerry Brewer.

>> John Wall thought he was “fat” when the season opened. During this two-month layoff to rehab from knee surgery, Wall and his personal remolded his diet and body. He’s dropped almost 15 pounds, enabling him to play lighter on his feet. Here’s how that diet looks. Speaking of Wall, Tom Boswell thinks the Wizards star needs to shoot a whole lot less.

>> The Raptors and Wizards are such comparable peers. They’ve both been building toward their current rosters since 2010. They both broke through to the playoffs in 2014. But after the Wizards swept the Raptors in the 2015 playoffs, Toronto made the conference final the next season while Washington still hasn’t advanced beyond the second round. So while , writes Jerry Brewer.

>> No one player can be blamed for the Wizards’ defensive mistakes in Game 1. He played 10 fewer minutes than his season average in Saturday’s game as a result.

>> The top of the Wizards’ roster might be a little better than the Raptors’ best players. On Saturday night, however, the Raptors sent a strong initial message about who they are during a 114-106 victory in Game 1 at Air Canada Centre. In short, they’re better — clearly better — than Washington, writes Jerry Brewer. These aren’t two teams striding alongside each other on the same journey. The Raptors have pulled ahead, and if you’re expecting them to slow down so the Wizards can catch up, that’s not how this is going to go. If the Wizards hope to win this series — or even become a threat to win — they will have to accelerate.

>> Anyone expecting Wizards guards John Wall and Bradley Beal to preview their first-round tilt against the Raptors by proclaiming themselves as “the best backcourt in the NBA” will be disappointed. Washington’s duo holds their northern rivals’ Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan in high esteem.

>> While Toronto is the East’s top seed, the Wizards are still attempting to complete the task of finding themselves, which might be a greater challenge than the daunting opponent, writes Jerry Brewer.

, Tim Bontemps writes of Raptors-Wizards, “I want to pick Washington to win this series. The Wizards match up well with Toronto and have shown no fear for them this season . . . But it’s just impossible to put that much faith in this Wizards team after the way they’ve played this season.” He says it’s Toronto in seven games.

>> Though they’re the underdogs, the Wizards view a matchup with Toronto much more favorably than some of the other teams with lower seeds. And while the Wizards struggled all season with teams with records under .500, just as they did Wednesday in the loss to the Magic, they knocked off nine playoff-bound opponents after the all-star break. They also split the regular season series with Toronto, players reasoned, and five-time all-star John Wall didn’t play a second in the four games.

>> Regular season success isn’t foreign to the Raptors, who have exceeded 50 wins each of the past two seasons. But in the postseason, the Raptors have clammed up, needing every ounce of their energy to escape from their first-round series and then continuing to struggle against actual contenders. Tim Bontemps explains how Toronto changed its approach this season in hopes of getting a different result.

>> The Raptors have the NBA’s best bench and have had a strong reserve unit for a while — their 2015 team actually had a higher bench BPM than their starters, which is unprecedented for a good team. But the reliance on the bench is also one of the causes of Toronto’s disappointing playoff results. Here’s a deeper look at the Raptors’ bench, with some names you might not recognize who are making a big impact.

>> Neil Greenberg crunched the numbers, and the Raptors have the second-best chances of winning the title this season at 22.1 percent. The Wizards? Eh, you don’t want to know. But there’s better news for the Wizards: Washington has a 12 percent chance of upsetting Toronto in the opening round. So that’s something!

>> Finally, here’s a complete schedule for the NBA’s first round, with some quick analysis from Tim Bontemps.