Washington backup Jason Smith cleared to play vs. Hawks

The momentum had swung in favor of the Hawks when John Wall saved the Wizards and sent Washington to the second round. C Marcin Gortat attempted his first free throws of the entire series with 6:09 left in the fourth quarter. The Wizards admitted to a lack of focus in Games 3 and 4 at Atlanta, and the Hawks are hoping to take advantage again and extend the series.

John Wall dominated the fourth quarter.

Brooks is just as impressed with what Wall, as well as Beal, provide beyond the stat sheet. “We just feed off that”.

Paul Millsap had a team-high 31 points for the Hawks. He took ill-advised shots and was routinely roasted on defense. He’s led the Wizards to three separate postseason series victories, advancing beyond the first round in 2014, 2015, and 2017.

“He’s leading his team as much as I’m trying to lead my team”, Wall told reporters on Monday. “Me and Brad led the way”. For more of the 48 minutes, we have to be more focused.

Budenholzer said, “I felt like we had an opportunity to dig out of another big hole, but a couple of plays down the stretch changed the game and they were able to make a couple of plays”. Washington saw a 22-point, third-quarter lead shrink to three before Wall rejected Dennis Schroder’s layup attempt. There was no visible lanyard around his neck displaying a pass, and the gray and black ball cap covering those sandy brown curls he’s grown long since retiring from basketball made him appear even more anonymous.

Avery Bradley pumped in 23 points and the Celtics drained 16 3-pointers while ripping the Bulls, 105-83 in Chicago. Al Horford and No. 1-seeded Boston will meet Washington in one conference semifinal.

Dennis Schröder added 26 points and 10 assists for the Hawks while Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. After losing three close games in Washington, the Hawks finally ran out of steam.

Washington pushed out to a double-digit lead late in the first quarter, and closed the first half on a 19-4 run to take a 65-46 lead at the break. Too much dribbling by Wall had him committing seven turnovers.

However, when examining this series, beyond the talk of “double MMA” and a few GIFs of Wall dunking over or staring down Schroder, this playoff round had lacked sizzle, overshadowed by fouls and missed jump shots. They played well enough Wednesday night, helping the Wizards get the 103-99 victory. “We definitely wanted to get it out of his hands early and go from there”. After struggling with foul trouble throughout the series, Morris came up big in his 40 minutes of action. Those kids – Bradley Beal and John Wall – are now the team’s top dogs and during Game 6 when the duo combined for 73 points in the closeout victory, Miller marveled at how they have grown. Thomas, of course, will apply his own pressure down the other end and has had great success scoring against the Wizards, with averages of 27.8 points and eight assists in his four games against Washington this season. To go along with his point totals, Wall also dished out 10.3 assists per game.

Wall’s Wizards will now matchup with the Boston Celtics. Bazemore and Smith were assessed technicals for pushing each other.