Eastern Conference Round 1 - Game 4
Hawks 111
Wizards 101
April 24, 2017 - Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
While the Wizards had a much better start than in Game 3, they had trouble in the paint and the Hawks took advantage. The Wizards tried to come back in the second half but fell short. Once again, officiating was atrocious. Now the Wizards head back to DC to right the ship.
A much better night for Brad.
Bradley Beal got off to a better start than he did in Games 1-3. He started Game 1 shooting 3-for-12, Game 2 6-for-18, and Game 3 was 1-for-6 from the field. The Panda was much better in Atlanta on Monday as he led all scorers 32 points on 11-for-23 field goal shooting. In the first quarter he was 4-for-9 which is a big improvement.
Otto and Bogie lucky 13’s.
There was a brief scare for Wizards fans in Game 3 after Otto Porter left the game with a neck and shoulder injury. He was ay-okay for Game 4 and was penciled back into the starting lineup. He hit a big three, dropped 13 points and shot 5-for-10. Bojan Bogdanovic also had a great game this series, perhaps his best game thus far, as he was hitting shots from downtown the way we were used to seeing after he was traded to Washington. Overall, Bogie shot 5-for-9 with 13 points. Prior to Game 4, Bogie was 1-of-10 for from three during the first three games of the series.
Ref show.
In Game 1 there were 47 fouls. In Game 2, there were 55 fouls called. In Game 3 and 4, there were 45 fouls. If you do the math, the grand total of fouls in this series is 192. Guess which team got the most in each game. It isn’t primarily their fault. The officials have been inconsistent with calls, which has many people scratching their heads.
Exhibit A:
And a reminder of just how dirty this Hawks team is:
After a great performance from Game 1 that saw Markieff Morris drop 21 points, Chief Keef’s numbers have dipped mostly due to foul trouble ever since Millsap’s MMA comment. In Game 4, he reached five fouls.
“Since that game he’s been in foul trouble. The stats say he hasn’t shot the ball well but he hasn’t had a rhythm,” said head coach Scott Brooks. “He’s been in foul trouble ever since that Game 1. He’ll bounce back. I’ve got confidence in him, how he plays for us. I expect him to have a better game in a couple nights.”
Second quarter proved costly.
The Wizards were outscored 31-15 in the second quarter after leading by as many as nine in the first. The culprit in the second frame was Washington being cold shooting. They shot 5-for-20 and had eight turnovers in just the second quarter alone. Four of those missteps were by Wall (he would still finish the game with 22 points along with 10 assists). In addition, the Hawks outrebounded the Wizards 15-9. If the Wizards want to take command back in the series, they must be locked in for all 48 minutes.
Seven heaven for the Hawks.
Atlanta had seven players hit double figures scoring. Most notable was Dwight Howard with 16 points and 15 boards. Paul Millsap had 19 points and nine rebounds and I doubt he cried after this one. Okay maybe I’m wrong. Kent Bazemore had 16 points and seven assists off the bench. Taurean Prince added 11 points and seven rebounds and Jose Calderon scored 10 points and dished out five assists.