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 Washington cooled off the Hawks in the second half and rallied from
behind for a 104-98 win Sunday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference
semifinal series at Philips Arena.
Point guard John Wall and shooting guard Bradley Beal each played
through injuries to have big games. Beal led the Wizards with 28
points, but was injured his right ankle early in the fourth quarter
and had to go back to the locker room for treatment. He returned for
the final three minutes. Wall scored 18 points and handed out 13
assists with only one turnover, despite hurting his left wrist late
in the first half.
Game 2 of the series is Tuesday night at Philips Arena.
"All it is is one win," Washington coach Randy Wittman said. "Now,
Tuesday is going to be harder than this game. We're going to have to
play better than we did tonight to have a chance."
It was a quick turnaround for the Hawks, who didn't finish off the
Brooklyn Nets in the first-round series until Friday night. The
Wizards, on the other hand, swept the Toronto Raptors in the first
round and had a full week to rest. It showed in the second half.
After exploding for 37 points in the first quarter, Atlanta scored a
total of 35 in the second half.
Forward DeMarre Carroll led the Hawks with 24 points, 19 coming a
big first half that saw Atlanta lead by as many as 11. They couldn't
keep it going in the second half, though, and got off to slow starts
in both the third and fourth quarters.
The Hawks didn't hit a field goal for the first five and half
minutes in the fourth quarter. Guard Kyle Korver broke the broke the
drought with a 3-pointer from the left wing, and point guard Jeff
Teague followed with a fastbreak layup off a pass from Horford that
cut the Wizards' lead to 91-90 with 5:45 to play.
Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer didn't think fatigue was a factor and
instead to his team's lack of aggressiveness for the biggest reason
behind the second-half slide.
"We can be better defensively, and offensively, if we're more
aggressive and play more like we did in the first half, I think
we'll be more affective," Budenholzer said.
Washington trimmed a 10-point halftime deficit to two heading into
the fourth quarter. Beal gave the Wizards their first lead since the
first quarter on a 3-pointer that put Washington up 85-83 with 10
minutes left in the game.
Atlanta forward Al Horford had another strong all-around
performance, but he got in foul trouble in the fourth quarter.
Horford's fifth foul resulted in a pair of free throws from forward
Paul Pierce that extended the Wizards' lead to 89-83 with 7:31 to
play.
Carroll became the first Hawk to score 20 or more points in five
straight playoff games since Dominique Wilkins since 1989. He has
played for five teams during his six-year career and will be an
unrestricted free agent this summer.
"Offensively, you can't score 35 points in the second half and
expect to beat this team," Carroll said. "You can't really worry
about the fatigue. It's the playoffs, and we were at home in front
of our crowd, so our adrenaline should have carried us through it."
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After a sizzling first half that featured nine 3-pointers, the Hawks
missed seven of their first eight shots in the third quarter.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Beal and forward Drew Gooden cut the
Hawks lead to 75-74 with 3:30 left in the third quarter. Gooden made
an impact off the bench with 12 points and five rebounds.
"It was tough, but that game showed a sign of maturity about this
team," Gooden said
Atlanta led 63-53 at halftime, thanks to Carroll's hot start. He hit
five of his first six 3-point attempts and 21 points in the first
half.
The Wizards were able to stay close by making their advantage
inside. Washington had 12 second-chance points off of nine offensive
rebounds in the first half. For the game, the Wizards outscored the
Hawks 25 to 14 in second-chance points, something that will be a
storyline throughout the series.
Beal went down with 8:08 minutes left in the fourth quarter and
walked gingerly off the court favoring his right leg. Early reports
were a sprained right ankle. He said he'll receive treatment and be
ready for Tuesday.
Wall said his ailing wrist and hand won't stop him from playing in
Game 2, either.
"If it's not broke, we're going to play," Wall said.
NOTES: Washington had a full seven days off after sweeping the
Toronto Raptors in the first round. Atlanta didn't finish off its
first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets until Friday night. ...
Atlanta won three of four games against Washington in the regular
season. ... Washington coach Randy Wittman played for the Hawks from
1983-88. ... The Hawks are the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference
playoffs for the first time since the 1993-94 season. Atlanta hasn't
advanced past the second round of the playoffs since the 1987-88
season. ... Referees were Scott Foster, Pat Fraher and Ron
Garretson.
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