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Friday, May 15, 2015

Hawks survive, advance

It wasn't pretty, but not much has been pretty for the Atlanta Hawks in their first two rounds of the playoffs. They still find themselves moving onto the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since they were the St. Louis Hawks in 1961. They didn't manage to execute the offense the way they wanted to with missed open looks and a few careless turnovers sprinkled throughout their Game 6 against the Washington Wizards. However, they put together back-to-back great defensive efforts to thwart Washington and effectively end their season.

The Wizards fought and they refused to go away throughout this series, but they simply didn't have the depth or the firepower to overtake the Hawks in Game 6 or this series. Bradley Beal and John Wall proved they were formidable opponents for Atlanta, but they didn't receive the proper support in this series. And when they needed their wily, outspoken veteran to save the day, he was just a little too slow on the draw to give them one more chance at redemption. The Hawks won 94-91 and advance to the conference finals.

Here's what we learned from Hawks-Wizards Game 6:

1. DEMARRE CARROLL, JEFF TEAGUE, AND AL HORFORD END THIS SERIES

Throughout most of this series, we kept wondering when the Hawks were going to start clicking like we saw during their 19-game winning streak in the middle of the season. Even though the Wizards sport a very good defense, you still kept waiting for the dam to break and the points to start rushing through for Atlanta. That never really happened. They executed their offense at times, and they'd be able to go on mini runs, but nothing seemed sustainable to put the Wizards away. The execution of the offense was superb down the stretch though.

On back-to-back possessions with under a minute left and the game tied at 89-89, the Hawks ran action that had Jeff Teague draw the defense away from the basket toward him and Al Horford or Paul Millsap. Then DeMarre Carroll would cut through to the basket as the Wizards scrambled to figure out where they needed to be. Both times, Teague found Carroll for easy layups that had little resistance. It gave the Hawks a 93-89 lead with 30 seconds left and they managed to hold on for the three-point victory.

A big part of getting that victory was also the block Al Horford had on Bradley Beal with 27 seconds left. The Wizards opted for the quick two and it looked like they had the right play and execution to get Beal a layup. However, Horford recovered and blocked the shot on the other side of the rim to help get that all important defensive stop at the end of the game. That's Hawks basketball.

2. THE WIZARDS' STARTING BACKCOURT WASN'T ENOUGH

Can't overstate how great Wall and Beal were in this game. They combined for 49 points on 18-of-45 shooting, 16 assists (13 for Wall), 12 rebounds, 11 free throw attempts, and three healthy hands. Wall and Beal carried the offense for the Wizards in this game and it was because nobody else seemed capable of helping them (outside of decent bench scoring from Kevin Seraphin), that the Hawks were able to key in on the backcourt and make their night less efficient than it should have been.

Wizards not named John Wall or Bradley Beal combined for 42 points on 16-of-48 from the field. Paul Pierce was 1-of-7 from the field. Nene was 2-of-7 from the field and 1-of-4 from the free throw line. He missed two layups so badly in this game that it looked like he was losing at ping-pong against the backboard. Otto Porter and Ramon Sessions couldn't hit shots either and the Wizards didn't support their backcourt at all. This was a winnable game at home and nobody seemed ready to step up.

3. THIS IS THE PERFECT WAY TO END THIS SERIES

Can you imagine a better way to end this particular series? Chaos, madness, and random incompetence from both teams down the stretch created a scenario in which Paul Pierce was launching up a one-legged, fading to the side 3-point shot as time expired to tie the game and send it to overtime. But when we saw the replay, he didn't quite get it off in time on the broken play and even his clutch make somehow wasn't enough for the Wizards' season to keep going.

The Hawks move on to the conference finals where they'll take on the Cavs. Game 1 starts on Wednesday.

SERIES SCHEDULE, RESULTS

Game 1 - Sunday, May 3
Washington 104, Atlanta 98

Game 2 - Tuesday, May 5
Atlanta 106, Washington 90

Game 3 - Saturday, May 9
Washington 103, Atlanta 101

Game 4 - Monday, May 11
Atlanta 106, Washington 101

Game 5 - Wednesday, May 13

Atlanta 82, Washington 81

Game 6 - Friday, May 15

Atlanta 94, Washington 91 - Hawks win series 4-2

Millsap helps lead his team to uncharted territory. (USATSI)
Paul Millsap helps lead his team to uncharted territory. (USATSI)