Atlanta Hawks Game Preview: Game 2 at Washington Wizards

The Atlanta Hawks face the Washington Wizards tonight in Game 2 of their first round playoff series. Can they even the series up at 1-1?

Game 1 of the playoffs went as expected for the Atlanta Hawks, it just didn’t go in the Hawks’ favor. A good first half turned into a rough second half, which turned into a 114-107 loss.

The way Atlanta played in the first half provided reason for optimism. Could the pundits be wrong? Could this be Atlanta’s series to lose? Not so fast, friends. That’s why the second half was so frustrating.

The fact remains that this is what was supposed to happen. The Washington Wizards are the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference and finished the regular season with a 49-33 record. That’s six games better than Atlanta’s 43-39 record. The Wizards were supposed to win Game 1 at home. It’s okay to be frustrated, but this thing isn’t over.

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It wasn’t all bad. The Hawks showed some encouraging signs in Game 1. Atlanta embraced Washington’s physical defense by getting to the free-throw with frequency. The Hawks shot a whopping 39 free-throws for the game, making 32 of them.

They also won the rebounding battle. Winning the rebounding battle has been the unreachable holy grail in recent postseasons, so it was nice to see that finally change.

Atlanta out-rebounded the Wizards 48 to 42. The Hawks also racked up 13 offensive rebounds. All their rebounding success came with Dwight Howard playing just 29 minutes.

So, there are some reasons for optimism in this series The Hawks have some positives to build on moving forward. Of course, not everything was sunshine and butterflies. Atlanta has several areas they need improve in. Otherwise the Hawks would have come away with a Game 1 victory and our Game 2 preview would have simply read “just keep on keeping on.”

Washington’s physical play down low did seem to creep into the heads of Atlanta’s big men. After the game, Paul Millsap made a comment about the physicality the Wizards played with. Millsap’s quote is from Chris Vivlamore’s piece in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

"When asked following the game about the difference in the outcome, Millsap said “We were playing basketball. They were playing MMA (Mixed Martial Arts).”"

"Millsap stood by his comment on Monday and he and teammates acknowledged the Hawks need to raise their physical play. This is the playoffs after all."

"“That is playoff basketball intensity,” Millsap said. “We have to step it up a notch and play that style too. If we can get out there and be that kind of aggressive, we’ll be OK.”"

Dwight Howard also spoke out on the issue.

"“It’s fine,” Howard said. “If they allowed both teams to play as physical, I would love that. We have to continue to play no matter what happens. We can’t get involved with the refs or anything like that. We just have to focus in on what we can control. If we play hard, we should win the game.”"

It would appear that Markieff Morris and Marcin Gortat accomplished their goal. You don’t make a comment to the media about something you’re not thinking about. Millsap and Howard now know the way Morris and Gortat want to play. I’d imagine they’ll fight fire with fire by matching that toughness. Game 2 could get chippy down low.

Despite 35 points combined from Morris and Gortat, Washington’s big men weren’t the reason Atlanta lost this game. The reason is actually pretty simple when you stop overthinking it. The Hawks lost because the Wizards have the John Wall and they don’t.

Wall was outstanding, stupendous, exhilarating, and played like the superstar that he is. Are we sure this guy isn’t the best point guard in the NBA? If Wall could make three-pointers at a league average rate there’d be no question about it. He would be considered a top five player in the NBA.

If this were the 1990’s, he might be considered the best player of the era not named Michael Jordan. That might be taking it a little too far, but John Wall was impressive on Sunday afternoon and now I’m out of breath.

Wall finished with 32 points, 14 assists, and four rebounds on 12-for-24 shooting and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. He even knocked down two of the four three-pointers he attempted. He did it all; finishing at the basket, knocking down mid-range jumpers off of Gortat screens, and creating for an assortment of teammates. Kent Bazemore and Dennis Schroder had no chance of slowing him down.

That’s why it was strange that Thabo Sefolosha failed to play a single minute in Game 1. Sefolosha, on paper, is Atlanta’s only defender capable of bothering Wall in the slightest. Sefolosha is tall, lanky, quick, and has great defensive instincts. He’s easily their best perimeter defender. He might not shut down Wall, but he could make him work for his points.

Soaring Down South’s own Collin Huguley wrote on Sefolosha’s curious absence earlier in the week.

"With Sefolosha, you get a defender that can spend time guarding both Beal and Wall. Beal was primarily guarded by Taurean Prince and the rookie did a decent job. With both Prince and Sefolosha, the Hawks can rotate them on Beal and Wall to give the Wizards’ duo big, athletic defenders to deal with.Prince’s athleticism and size should allow him to take shifts guarding Wall, also. But forcing him or Sefolosha to shadow him for long periods of time spells trouble. Wall’s speed and explosiveness would wear down the bigger men over time."

Huguley makes a good point. Sefolosha wouldn’t be asked to guard Wall for an entire game, that’s an impossible ask, but he would give Mike Budenholzer more options. With Sefolosha in the rotation the Hawks could let Schroder, Bazemore, Prince, and Sefolosha all spend time guarding Wall.

Throwing different looks at Wall and Bradley Beal may be the only way to give them trouble. It may not work, but it’s something. It’s obvious that if Wall and Beal continue to run wild it will be difficult for the Hawks to win this series.

I’ll remain optimistic for a moment. I don’t think the Hawks are going to get swept in this series. The Wizards are clearly the better team, but is the margin so large that Atlanta won’t even put up a fight? The answer is likely no.

Tonight is the night Atlanta will break the seal. They’ll win a close game and make this series competitive.

Next: Hawks To Pick 19th In 2017 NBA Draft

Who: Atlanta Hawks @ Washington Wizards

Series: 1-0 Wizards

When: 7:00 PM EST, Wednesday, April 19th, 2017

Where: Verizon Center

How: NBA TV

Prediction: Hawks 104 Wizards 102

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