Eastern Conference Playoffs Round 1, Game 3 Wizards lead 2-0
Wizards at Hawks
April 22, 2017 at 5:30 PM Philips Arena | Atlanta, GA TV: CSN Mid-Atlantic Radio: 1500 AM
What to watch:
#DeathRowDC heads to the Dirty South.
I hate to break it to you Paul Millsap, but you guys are down 2-0 in this MMA, oops I mean best of seven basketball series.
After the Wizards took care of home court in Games 1 and 2, this series shifts to Atlanta. Bradley Beal (Dre) and John Wall (Tupac) combined for 63 of the Wizards 109 points including 20 of the team’s final 21 points in the fourth quarter, which is very impressive. The House of Guards have come a long way from where Bleacher Report’s Game of Zones episode on the whole KD joining Golden State thingy.
Meanwhile, #DeathRowDC’s other member Markieff Morris (Snoop Dogg) did everything right in his first career playoff game in Game 1, with 21 points, and getting inside Atlanta’s heads quite a bit. Now the Wizards leave the birthplace of Wale and head to the land of 2 Chainz, Lil Jon, Usher, T.I. and so many others that I wasn’t able to mention because remember fans, we still gotta focus on the game itself!
Key Matchup:
Chief Keef vs. Paul Millsap
Is Millsap still going to run his mouth? After Game 1, he said the Hawks were playing basketball while the Wizards were playing MMA. After dropping Game 2, he said the series is still 0-0. Now this series shifts to Millsap’s home ring, I mean court. Keef had the better game in Game 1. In Game 2 he was held to three points as he was under foul trouble while Millsap dropped 27 points along with 10 rebounds. He shot 26 free throws combined in the first two games so if Keef keeps him off the charity stripe and makes him earn it from inside or from downtown, look for the Wizards to come out of this with a win.
X-Factor:
The refs.
Will the refs let the boys play or will there be foul calls left and right? There were 55 fouls called in Game 2 including 29 in just the first half. If you do the math and add Game 1 in there, there’s been 102 total fouls this entire series. Will this be a long game or a much quicker game? Who gets more calls? Tune in to find out.
Fun Factor:
Road Warriors.
The Wizards come into enemy territory in the ATL. Last time they were down in these streets, they blew them out 112-86. This environment will be much tougher but like the Nats this week, the Wizards will look to continue to make this a tough week for Atlanta fans but hey us DC fans gotta have our time eventually right?