Comparing the Atlanta Hawks’ and Washington Wizards’ Benches After Two Games

Bigs

One may be able to decipher a trend within both of the team’s benches: they have yet to make a true impact on the game. This does not change in the frontcourt, where the series’ most ignorable players have come from. This comes from two places: the four frontcourt players (Howard, Gortat, Morris, Millsap) all having flashy storylines, and the backups not making any game-altering plays. Muscala and

Muscala and Ilyasova are quintessentially the same player: sharpshooting, hustling, well-rounded frontcourt role players. Against the Wizards, they have both been the same player, an irrelevant one. Combined, the two have only attempted 20 shots or 10 shots per game. For comparison, Ilyasova attempted 8.7 shots per game during the regular season by himself. Ilyasova has rebounded the ball impressively with his 6.5 mark actually being higher than Pail Millsap’s 6 boards per game so far.

Muscala showed flashes of possibly being worthy of more playoff minutes with his last few games of the season. So far, he has regressed in this series. He has amassed the same amount of total rebounds as fouls with 8 and is 0-2 from beyond the three-point arc.

For the Wizards, Jason Smith has used his odd combination of bone-shattering physicality and solid catch-and-shoot ability to aid his team in victory. His 9 personal fouls lead the series, which is even more baffling when his 20.4 minutes per game are accounted for. In basically double the minutes (40.5), Bradley Beal has only committed 5 fouls over two games.