The Atlanta Hawks fell to the Washington Wizards in Game 6 in Atlanta on Friday night.
The season of ups and downs is over for the Atlanta Hawks.
John Wall and Bradley Beal put on dominant performances to lead the Washington Wizards to an 115-99 win over the Hawks to clinch a 4-2 series win.
All series long, Wall was dominant against the Hawks and Beal’s scoring to support him was the key to victory for the Wizards. And both men had explosive games in Game 6. Wall finished with 42 points, eight assists, and four steals to put an emphatic stamp on this first-round series. Beal added 31 points of his own on 11-for-17 shooting and looked like an elite shooting guard.
But the play of those two men was just the start of the issues for the Hawks.
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While the Hawks shot a very solid 47.4 percent from the floor, they committed 22 turnovers. The Hawks constantly gave the Wizards free chances. Kent Bazemore had a fitting end to his tumultuous series, and season. Bazemore committed seven turnovers off of the bench while adding nine points and six boards. Paul Millsap had six turnovers of his own, while Dwight Howard committed five.
While turnovers did plague Millsap, he was very good for much of the game. He led the Hawks with 31 points, on 13-of-23 shooting, with 10 rebounds, seven assists, and four steals. Despite the bad team performance, Millsap showed off all of the tools in his toolbox and played in what could have been his final game in an Atlanta uniform.
Dennis Schroder was, virtually, the only other bright spot for the Hawks. He finished with 26 points and 10 assists while turning the ball over just twice. His growth was evident in this series, as he did a good job of taking care of the ball.
The Hawks dug themselves a deep hole in this game. They were down by as many as 22 points in the third quarter. But the Hawks cut the deficit to seven to start the fourth. The game was as close as three points in the fourth but the Wizards just had too much firepower with Wall down the stretch.
As good as Millsap and Schroder were, this game turned out to be a microcosm of the Hawks’ season in several ways. They were killed by their own mistakes with the turnovers and failed to have a consistent third scorer behind Millsap and Schroder.
Tim Hardaway Jr. was expected to be that extra scorer but he finished with 13 points on 18 shots attempted and was inefficient for much of this series. Howard was a non-factor with nine points and seven rebounds to go with his five turnovers. And Taurean Prince was held to four points in this game.
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When in mattered most in front of the home crowd, the Hawks fell flat. Yes, the Wizards are the much more talented team and should have won this series. But when one looks at how this game and several of them went, you have to think that the Hawks could’ve given themselves a much better chance to win.