After going down the first two matches in D.C., the Hawks returned to Atlanta to hold down their home court. Things were looking shaky after the first two games, but tonight’s match showed they just needed a refresher at home to set things right again.
The score at the half was 64-46 in favor of the Hawks. It was their biggest lead of the series so far.
It was a physical matchup as we hope most games are through the playoffs. Even though the physicality never really boiled over into anything, there were a few technical fouls called. One was against Dennis Schroder when he swatted Wizards’ point guard John Wall in the back of the head after a jumper. Another odd foul was late in the fourth when Taurean Prince threw down an alley-oop, he appeared to say something afterward to Wizards’ Forward Kelly Oubre Jr and was hit with a tech.
John Wall was the lone standout for the Wizards scoring 29 points and making seven assists. The next closer player was Brandon Jennings with 13 points. The bigger story with Jennings was how he came off the bench and helped the Wizards chip away at the Hawks’ lead. What didn’t help the Wizards was Oubre Jr. and Jason Smith fouling out.
Paul Millsap and Dennis Schroder led the charge for ATL with 56 points and 16 rebounds between the pair.
While cruising through the latter part of the fourth quarter with the game in hand, the Hawks let their bench close out the game. The story of the final minute was Malcolm Delaney scoring eight points in under a minute. Even though might see them as dead minutes, he definitely made the most of them.
The home crowd in Atlanta was electric and the Hawks will need them to rally behind them again on Monday for Game 4.
-Jon J.
Photo: Hakim Wright