Atlanta Hawks Game Preview: Game 5 at Washington Wizards

The Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards are set for a pivotal Game 5 tonight in Washington D.C. Who will take control of the series?

The Atlanta Hawks did what they had to do Monday night. They held serve at home, defeating the Washington Wizards 111-101 in Game 4 of their first round playoff series. The series is tied 2-2 as Game 5 moves back to Washington D.C.

The excitement is building among both fan-bases. On the other side of the bracket, the Boston Celtics haven’t exactly put forth an inspiring effort against the Chicago Bulls. The winner of Hawks/Wizards could easily find themselves in the Eastern Conference Finals.

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Needless to say, this may be the most important game of the series, The winner puts themselves firmly in the driver’s seat of this series. The winner will take a 3-2 lead, needing just one more victory to catapult themselves into the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

This has been a heated series. There’s been name calling, on-court shouting matches, outstanding individual performances, and each team has only won on their home court.

Game 4 was particularly chippy.

After Game 3, Markieff Morris had this to say about Paul Millsap. Quotes from Candace Buckner’s piece in the Washington Post.

"“Good game. He did more for his team tonight. Me as a man, you know, you take your wins with your losses and I take my wins with my losses all the time.” Morris said. “You know, he did more for his team. He’s a crybaby. You get all the calls and you a crybaby.”"

Millsap responded by dominating Morris in Game 4. Millsap scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Morris, compared to Morris’ line of nine points and four rebounds on 4-for-14 shooting. Millsap’s aggressiveness got Morris in early foul trouble. Morris played only 24 minutes while committing five fouls.

This matchup will once again be something to watch going forward. Will Morris bounce back and play like he did in Games 1 and 2? Or is Millsap in his head to the point where Atlanta’s anchorman will continue to dominate him?

John Wall and Bradley Beal did their part in Game 4. The only defense for these two is to just hope they miss shots. Beal exploded for 32 points on 11-for-23 shooting to make up for his poor performance in Game 3. He’s still shooting just 26.8 percent from outside in the series.

It was business as usual for Wall. He penetrated at will, ending his night with 22 points and 10 assists on 7-for-19 shooting. Kent Bazemore at least made him labor for some of his buckets. The Hawks defended Wall better than they have all series, but he still had more than 20 points and a double-double. He’s averaging 28.8 points and 10 assists per game on 50.7 percent shooting and 58.3 percent from three-point range during the series. Wall is ridiculous.

It would seem that Mike Budenholzer still is planning on using a combination of Kent Bazemore, Dennis Schroder, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Taurean Prince to defend Wall and Beal. Thabo Sefolosha has played just eight minutes in this series.

Atlanta’s role players were the talk of Game 4. Foul trouble for Dennis Schroder meant Jose Calderon had to play more minutes than usual. The 35-year-old Calderon found the fountain of youth and had arguably his best game as a Hawk.

Calderon scored 10 points and dished out five assists on 4-for-9 shooting. He knocked down a pair of three-pointers and played his best defense of the series. Calderon is not a good defender at this point in his career, but his effort and intensity helped him hold his own against Brandon Jennings. It was an inspiring effort, an effort that was appreciated by his teammates.

Here’s what Paul Millsap had to say about Calderon to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

"“Jose gives us an edge,” forward Paul Millsap said. “He’s got a little spice to him. When he brings that intensity from a veteran position, he knows how to play basketball the right way.”"

As Glen Willis at Peachtree Hoops pointed out, if Schroder doesn’t get into early foul trouble, the “Jose Calderon Game” probably doesn’t happen. Was Calderon’s stretch of brilliance a momentary blip on the radar of this series? Or will Mike Budenholzer play him more than a handful of minutes in Game 5?

Budenholzer didn’t hesitate to “ride the hot hand” during the regular season. If Calderon comes in and plays like he did in Game 4, Budenholzer may continue to give him extended minutes. Heading into this series I didn’t see Jose Calderon being the “X-Factor” for Atlanta, but here we are.

Then there’s Dwight Howard. Howard got a significant amount of criticism around the internet for his play in Games 1, 2, and 3. Budenholzer had removed him from the crunch-time rotation and it looked as though Howard had become an offensive liability.

Howard had a bounce back game in Game 4, compiling 16 points and 15 rebounds in 30 minutes of action. Most importantly, he actually played in the fourth quarter. Was this just a taste of what “Playoff Dwight” will bring for the rest of the series?

Lost in the shuffle, perhaps because of the drama surrounding this series, Dennis Schroder and Taurean Prince have been excellent in the postseason. Through four games, Schroder is averaging 23.3 points and 6.3 assists per game on 43.2 percent shooting and 34.6 percent from deep.

Prince is averaging 13.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game on 63.9 percent shooting and 50 percent from three-point distance. He’s a great cutter off the ball, a relentless defender, a good attacker off the dribble on closeouts, and his three-point stroke is developing nicely. This playoff series has introduced the world to Taurean Prince.

There are plenty of questions surrounding Game 5. Will Dwight Howard have another good game? Will the Millsap/Morris beef continue to escalate? Can the Wizards find someone to score that isn’t John Wall or Bradley Beal?

All those questions will be answered soon enough.

Next: Hawks Even Series At 2-2

Who: Atlanta Hawks @ Washington Wizards

Series: 2-2

When: 6:00 PM EST, Wednesday, April 26th, 2017

Where: Verizon Center

How: TNT/Fox Sports Southeast