Eastern Conference Round 1 - Game 3
Hawks 116
Wizards 98
April 22, 2017 - Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
(Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports)
Frankly put, Game 3 went horribly, horribly wrong for Washington. They played garbage defense, did not shoot the ball well, and never could get in a long run without Atlanta immediately punching them back right in the mouth. That said, it is one game, the Wizards are still in the driver’s seat with a 2-1 series advantage and would happily take a split on the road if they are able to win on Monday.
Washington simply could not get over the hump.
Yes, a 25 point first quarter deficit is a huge hole to try and dig yourself out of, but it is doable. We saw that from Cleveland last night. The Wizards themselves had 17 double-digit comebacks in the regular season. Twice in the second half, Washington looked poised to cut the deficit to single-digits, but they simply could not get over the hump. The Wizards went on a 10-2 run to get things to a semi-manageable 71-58 Atlanta lead, but the Hawks responded with a 10-2 run of their own. Then, Washington went on a 15-3 run to get things to a 93-81 deficit. Atlanta then responded with a 9-0 run to wrap things up early.
Bradley Beal had another slow start, but this time did not bounce back.
In the first two games of the series, Washington’s shooting guard started 3-for-12 and 6-for-18 from the field before finishing each game by making 6 of his last 9. Tonight, he got off to another cold start 1-for-6 from the field, and Washington got in a 38-13 hole. The third time was the charm for Atlanta in terms of containing Beal late as he finished the game a cold 6 of 20 from the field. For just the fifth time this season, and second time against the Hawks via the season opener, and first time in his playoff career, Beal did not make a three-point field goal despite six attempts. In the 2014 and 2015 playoffs, a new level of Bradley Beal basketball was unveiled but the Wizards have yet to see that proficiency in the 2017 postseason.
John Wall could have used some help.
At halftime, Wall had 21 points on 7-for-8 shooting and finished the game with 29 points on 10-for-12 shooting. If it were not for Scott Brooks pulling the starters early, he would have joined Antwan Jamison, Gilbert Arenas, and Jeff Malone as the only players in team history to score 30 points in three straight playoff games.
The downside for the Wizards was that the rest of the starting five was just 14-for-5 (21.1 percent) shooting from the field for 30 points. Otto Porter Jr. left the game early with a neck strain and Marcin Gortat had just one bucket after back-to-back double-doubles. It is rare to see a team win a playoff game with only one player playing well and that was what came back to bite Washington and prevent them from taking a nearly series dagger 3-0 lead.
The Wizards three-point shooting is starting to become troubling.
In this series so far, Washington is 22-for-79 from beyond the arc. That is a miserable 27.8 percent, which is a 9.4 percent less than the 37.2 percent that the Wizards shot from deep in the regular season. It was clear that the shot was not falling for Washington tonight, but they did not adjust by attacking the paint. The Hawks had a 60-34 advantage in the paint and the non-Wall starters did not even earn a single trip to the free throw line, likely because of a lack of aggressiveness and settling for jump shots.
Another Wizard struggling with his three-point shot is Bojan Bogdanovic. The trade deadline acquisition is 1-for-10 from beyond the arc in the series and finished the regular season just 12-for-43 (27.9 percent) from deep. Should Otto Porter, who has also had a significant drop off in three-point efficiency since the All-Star Break, miss time, Bogdanovic may be pressed into more playing time, which would mean Washington would need for him to break out of his extended slump that much more.
Silver linings; Brandon Jennings starting to be an offensive scoring threats.
His defense is still highly suspect as he is letting 35-year-old Jose Calderon blow by him on simple drives to the rim without having to make a counter move to allow time for help defense, but at least he is starting to find his shot on the other end of the court. In his first 24 games with Washington, including Game 1, Jennings was a miserable 29 of 108, 26.9 percent, shooting from the field. In the past two games, the midseason signing is 8 of 11 from the field including some nice step back jump shots. If he is at least able to balance out his points allowed with point scored, then that is a win for the Wizards moving forward.