On early Sunday afternoon, the Washington wizards and Atlanta Hawks tipped off their first-round series in the NBA Playoffs. Game 1 was taken by the home team, 114-107. The Wizards received major performances from John Wall, Bradley Beal, Markieff Morris and Marcin Gortat. Still, the Hawks were able to keep up with the Wizards and even out-rebound the home team once the final box score arrived. Could this be a reason for a potential upset in Game 2? Here's a look at how the Washington Wizards took the first installment in their best-of-seven series on Sunday.
Wall propels Wizards to win
John Wall was the main star in today's win, finishing with 32 points on 9-for-21 shooting, along with 14 assists and four rebounds. Marcin Gortat also achieved a double-double of 14 points and 10 boards, while Bradley Beal had 22, and Markieff Morris, 21 points, respectively. As a team, the Washington Wizards shot 45 percent today, which was just slightly above Atlanta's 43.6 percent rate.
At the half Atlanta held a 48-45 lead, but John Wall and the Wizards surged back in the third quarter, going up by 10. In the final quarter, the two teams each put up 31, as Washington was able to hold off the visitors.
For Wall, the 32-point performance was an all-time best in the postseason.
Morris' hot scoring performance came in the second half as he helped push the team out to a comfortable lead. Prior to today's game, he had yet to participate in an NBA playoffs game despite appearing in 448 regular-season games for his career.
The Hawks may still have good reason to be optimistic for the next matchup as Dennis Schroder finished with 25 points and nine assists.
He connected on three of the five three-point attempts he took. Paul Millsap scored 19 points, while Dwight Howard hauled in 14 rebounds to go with just seven points. However, the Hawks held a 48-42 rebounding edge once the game was over. The team may look to this as well as the fact they only shot slightly lower than the home team as they prepare to try to shut down Wall in the next meeting.
When's Game 2?
Both teams get a few days of rest before they hit the hardwood again. The Wizards and Hawks will meet up again for the second matchup on Wednesday, April 19th. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern Time from Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center. Fans will be able to watch this matchup on NBA TV. Game 3 and 4 will be played in Atlanta this coming Saturday and next Monday.