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John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter and the Washington Wizards battle James Harden, Chris Paul, Clint Capela and the Houston Rockets on Friday night.

Here is all you need to know: TV, live stream and radio info, tip-off time, plus three things to watch…

WASHINGTON WIZARDS VS. HOUSTON ROCKETS

Where: Capital One Arena
Tip-off: 7 p.m.
TV: NBC Sports Washington (coverage begins at 6 p.m.)
Live stream: NBCSportsWashington.com
Online with no cable TV: fuboTV (try for free)
Radio: 1500 AM

Three things to watch...

Wizards will be up for this one

The Wizards have been inconsistent overall this season, but against the good teams they have been just fine. Those are the games they bring their best for and the Rockets are about as good as anyone in the NBA. They are second in the Western Conference and that's despite missing Chris Paul for much of this season. That's good news because the Wizards are 10-6 against teams with records at .500 or better, the best record in the East.

The Rockets feature one of the NBA's best players in James Harden. He is on the short-list of MVP candidates with averages of 32.5 points and 9.2 assists per game. Houston is exceptoinal on offense with the best offensive rating in the NBA and the highest scoring average (115.5 ppg). On defense, they are also very good with the seventh best defensive rating. The Rockets take and make more threes than anyone in the NBA and that will present an interesting contrast to the Wizards, who are first in opponents three-point percentage.

[PODCAST: MORRIS ON WHY THE WIZARDS ARE A TOUGH TEAM]

Some injuries

The Rockets have several notable injuries at the moment. Superstar point guard Chris Paul has missed their last three games with a right abductor strain. Clint Capela, an emerging young big man, remains out with a right orbital fracture. And Luc Mbah a Moute, a good wing defender, is sidelined with a dislocated right shoulder.

Paul has a chance to play and he of course makes a major difference with averages of 17.1 points and 9.0 assists per game. But the Rockets are far from 100 percent while the Wizards are playing with a full deck right now.

[RELATED: SEE THE WIZARDS' NEW ALTERNATE JERSEYS]

Morris is coming around

The Wizards have dealt with some frustrating times in recent weeks, but it appears that power forward Markieff Morris is getting closer and closer to midseason form. Just look at his numbers. Over his past 10 games, Morris is shooting 56.3 percent from the field and 45 percent from three. He is shooting 61 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from three in his last five outings.

Though Morris has been inconsistent as a scorer and rebounder, he has been relatively efficient overall this season. His three-point percentage is now up to 40 percent, good for third on the team. That's excellent for a power forward.

[RELATED: LATEST NBA POWER RANKINGS]

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The Wizards returned to Washington, D.C. on Friday down 0-2 to the Raptors in their best-of-seven 2018 NBA Playoffs first-round series. 

The team lost a close one in Game 1 and was run out of the building in Game 2. Game 3 was must-win, and the Wizards knew what needed to happen in order for them to secure the victory.

"Everybody eats." 

That's the phrase that has defined the Wizards throughout much of the season They are at their best when John Wall is making plays and feeding his teammates.

On Friday night, the Wizards beat the Raptors 122-103 to force at least a Game 5. Wall finished with 28 points and 14 assists.

Bradley Beal finally broke out of his slump for 28 points and  Marcin Gortat, Mike Scott and Kelly Oubre all chipped in with at least 10 points.

But the stat sheet wasn't the only place where everybody eats.

Here's Marcin Gortat from Game 3. 

presented without comment

STREAM: https://t.co/mwudwFILNq pic.twitter.com/IcrXvHGKpF

— NBC Sports Wizards (@NBCSWizards) April 21, 2018

But if pantomiming isn't your thing, here is Bradley Beal actually eating popcorn during Game 3.

This is how Bradley Beal felt about the Raptors tonight 🍿 pic.twitter.com/W2sYuNVVmt

— Aaron Dodson (@aardodson) April 21, 2018

So what did we learn in Game 3? Well, for starters: "Everybody Eats" is not just a motto, it is a way of life.

MORE FROM WIZARDS-RAPTORS SERIES:

GORTAT DITCHES MOHAWK, TEAMMATES APPROVE

MUST-SEE MOMENTS FROM WILD GAME 3

BEAL GOT AN APOLOGY FROM SCOTT BROOKS

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Snyder, Earnhardt Jr. and Redskins help build school library

0:46

Caps-Jackets Game 5 preview: Coming home with the momentum

The Toronto Raptors were only going to hold Bradley Beal down for so long. After two so-so games to begin the Wizards-Raptors playoff series, the All-Star shooting guard was bound to find his way offensively and that arrival came in a Game 3 win on Friday night.

Beal was brilliant and much more in line with what he's shown in the postseason throughout his career. Game 2 was his worst playoff game as an NBA player, he scored only nine points. Game 3 was one of his best on the postseason stage, or at least one of his most timely and important.

The Wizards needed more from Beal to give themsevles a chance in this series. An 0-3 deficit would have been a death sentence. His production is so key to their success that head coach Scott Brooks and point guard John Wall met with Beal in between Games 2 and 3 to figure out how to get him going.

Whether that was the catalyst or not, the results followed. Beal poured in 28 points in 10-for-19 shooting with four rebounds, four assists and three steals. He hit four threes, more than he had in the first two games combined.

Beal wasted no time to make an impact scoring the ball. His first points came on a quick burst to the basket where he stopped on a dime, turned around and banked it in. By the end of the first quarter, he had 12 points in 11 minutes.

“I just wanted to be aggressive, get shots that I wanted which is what they were going to force me to take," Beal said.

After Game 2, Brooks and Beal described how physical the Raptors were defending him. They were holding on to him and staying close, even when he wasn't moving off the ball.

Brooks saw a difference in how Beal responded to that in Game 3.

"Brad came out and was looking to go towards the basket and not just letting them hold him and going along with it. He didn’t want to dance with his opponent, he wanted to get away from them. That was a critical part of his success," Brooks said.

Beal's 28 points were as much as he scored in Games 1 and 2 together and just about what he averaged through four games against the Raptors during the regular season (28.8). By halftime of Game 3, Beal had 21 points on 8-for-11 from the field.

Beal hit two threes in the first quarter and another two in the second quarter. Several of those threes were set up by Wall, who used the meeting with Brooks and Beal to ask how he can set him up better as the point guard.

In Game 3, they were on the same page.

"I do think this man [John Wall] next to me, he creates and facilitates for the whole team and gets everybody easy shots," Beal said. "I talk to you guys all the time and I can’t tell you the last time I actually got a regular catch and shoot three just in a regular half court set. When he came back, I got like three or four off the bat."

What Beal did in Game 3 is what the Wizards are used to seeing from him this time of the year. Despite being only 24 years old, he has a strong track record in the playoffs.

Through 37 career postseason games, Beal is averaging 22.3 points, more than his career average of 18.7 in the regular season. In each of his previous three postseason runs, he has averaged more points during the playoffs than he did in the regular seasons leading up.

That production has earned him the nickname 'Playoff Beal' and when he goes off like he did in Game 3, good things usually happen. The Wizards are 10-6 in the playoffs during his career when he scores 25 points or more.

Wall also boasts impressive career numbers in the playoffs. When the Wizards have both of their stars playing at their best, they are hard to beat. With peak Beal on board, this series looks a lot different than it did not that long ago.

MORE FROM WIZARDS-RAPTORS SERIES:

GORTAT DITCHES MOHAWK, TEAMMATES APPROVE

MUST-SEE MOMENTS FROM WILD GAME 3

BEAL GOT AN APOLOGY FROM SCOTT BROOKS

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