WASHINGTON -- The effort was better. The result was the same. And now the Raptors are on the brink of elimination from the NBA playoffs after just three games.

Toronto fell 106-99 to the Washington Wizards on Friday and are now down 3-0 in its best-of-seven first-round series.

Another fast start gave Toronto hope it could creep back into the series, but a 10-point first-half lead vanished even before the two teams headed to their locker rooms at halftime.

Point guard John Wall finished with 19 points and 15 assists to lead Washington and forward Marcin Gortat added 24 points and 12 rebounds.

DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 32 points -- including 22 in the first half.

DeRozan carried Toronto in the first quarter with 20 points. But point guard Kyle Lowry shot 2-for-9 in the first half and foul trouble continued to hound him. Lowry had six points at halftime and two fouls. He finished with 15 points on 5-of-22 shooting as a frustrating series continued.

At one point in the third quarter Lowry had missed eight consecutive shots and DeRozan had missed 10 in a row.

The rest of the Raptors tried to make up the difference. Toronto took an 85-84 lead with 6:01 left in the fourth quarter after a dunk by Amir Johnson, who was one of the Raptors' few bright spots. He made 6-of-7 field goals and had a game-high 12 rebounds with three assists.

But with the game tied 88-88, Wizards reserve Otto Porter's breakthrough playoffs continued. With 4:20 to play, he sunk an open 3-pointer to put Washington back in front for good. Porter soon hit another. Verizon Center finally exploded moments later when Toronto foil Paul Pierce made his own open 3-pointer to put the Wizards eight points clear with 1:58 left and put the game -- and likely the series -- out of reach.

Game 4 is Sunday at Verizon Center. No NBA team has overcome a 3-0 series deficit.