Atlanta Hawks Game Preview: Game 6 vs. Washington Wizards

The Atlanta Hawks face elimination in Game 6 of their first round series against the Washington Wizards. Can they force a winner take all Game 7 back in D.C.?

It all comes down to this. The Atlanta Hawks are possibly staring their final game of the 2016-17 season in the face. If they don’t win Game 6, the Wizards will win the series and head to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. If the Hawks win, they’ll play Game 7 Sunday in D.C.

So far, the home team has done what they’re supposed to do in every game of this series. The Wizards won Games 1, 2, and 5 at the Verizon Center. The Hawks won Games 3 and 4 at Philips Arena. It only seems right that the Hawks should once again hold serve to force a Game 7. Give the people what they want.

More from Soaring Down South

The Hawks nearly stole Game 5. They had a chance to win in the final minute, but John Wall proved to be too tough.

Wall’s mid-range jumper off of a particularly meaty Marcin Gortat screen with less than one minute remaining ended Atlanta’s hopes of a fourth quarter comeback.

Wall has been the best player in this series. His rare combination of speed, overall athleticism, passing, and scoring has been a joy to watch (if you’re not a Hawks fan).

He enters Game 6 putting up averages of 27 points and 10.8 assists per game on 49.5 percent shooting. Wall is also shooting 53.3 percent from three-point range on three attempts per game. When Wall is hitting from outside there’s almost no way to stop him.

Dennis Schroder, Kent Bazemore, and Tim Hardaway Jr. have all spent time guarding Wall. Bazemore has done the best job of the three players, but none of them have been able to slow him down.

Hounding him full-court won’t work because he’ll just blow by his defender and wreak havoc in the paint. Sagging off of him hasn’t worked because he’s knocking down jumpers this series. The Hawks are in a position where they just have to hope he starts missing shots. A little luck goes a long way.

Wall’s counterpart on the Hawks has also had a wonderful series. Dennis Schroder is breaking out and announcing his presence to the rest of the NBA. When Schroder’s cooking, he can be a dynamic point guard that scores, creates, and causes nightmares for his opponent.

Schroder is averaging 24.4 points and 7.2 assists per game on 45.7 percent shooting. Like Wall, the weakest point of Schroder’s game is his outside shooting. Teams usually defend Schroder by electing to go under screens and essentially give him open three-point looks. Schroder has made Washington pay for that decision this series by shooting 43.8 percent from deep on 6.4 attempts per game.

Danny Chau at The Ringer had this to say about the battle between Wall and Schroder in this series, the excitement that comes from watching them play, and what Schroder means for Atlanta’s future.

"Wall operating at full tilt is a draw in and of itself. And while the Hawks in recent years have largely taken after coach Mike Budenholzer, the success of Schröder honing his brash, occasionally reckless style of play has given the Hawks something of a personality quirk on the court. It’s worth paying attention to how deeply it manifests, especially with Millsap’s potential free agency (should he opt out after the season) looming. In Wall, we’re watching a player stake his claim as a top-three point guard in the league. In Schröder, we may well be witnessing the true future of the Hawks."

There are other interesting battles in this series. Paul Millsap‘s bullying of Markieff Morris on the court has been present ever since Morris’ ill conceived decision to call Millsap a “crybaby” in a post-game media session.

Millsap’s line of 23 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game on 48.7 percent shooting dwarfs Morris’ line of 10 points and 5 rebounds per game on 36.4 percent shooting. Morris has been limited to 26.4 minutes per game due to foul trouble brought on by Millsap relentlessly attacking him down low. Name-calling isn’t very nice and can lead to the victim making your life hell on the basketball court.

Moving on.

What’s that old basketball theory? I don’t know who created the theory, but I’ve heard it on several podcasts this week. It’s pretty simple; role players play better at home. Stars will show up any time any place, but the comforts of home help a defensive specialist, a shooter, a backup point guard, a backup big man, etc.

The Hawks will hope that’s true on Friday night. They need Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kent Bazemore to bounce back from poor offensive performances. Bazemore brought it on defense in Game 5, as he always does, but his outside shooting was knocked a bit off-kilter.

Bazemore finished the game with six points on 0-for-5 from three-point range on Wednesday. Hardaway wasn’t much better. He did have 15 points, but it came on 6-for-18 shooting and 3-for-10 from three-point distance.

They’re both talented offensive players that can heat up quickly when they’re at their best. The Hawks need them to hit shots in Game 6. That could be the difference in winning and losing.

Dwight Howard playing well would also help. Howard’s Game 4 performance of 16 points and 15 rebounds was exactly what Hawks fans wanted to see from him in the playoffs. He followed that up with five points and 10 rebounds in Game 5. Overall during the series Howard is averaging 7.8 points and 11.4 rebounds per game on 46.9 percent shooting.

Those aren’t “Playoff Dwight” numbers. Either Howard will return to form and help the Hawks to victory, or he’ll once again be absent from Atlanta’s crunch-time rotation.

I think this game will come down to the role players. Wall and Beal are going to play well. Schroder and Millsap are going to play well. Can their teammates help them out? We’ll have to wait and see. Hopefully we’re having this same conversation about Game 7 on Sunday.

Next: Closing In Crunch Time

Who: Washington Wizards @ Atlanta Hawks

Series: 3-2 Wizards

When: 7:30 PM EST, Friday, April 29th, 2017

Where: Philips Arena

How: ESPNU/NBA TV

Home/Hawks News