The Washington Wizards won against the Atlanta Hawks in game one of the NBA playoffs, with some extraordinary offensive display. John Wall was a leading scorer for the Wizards, as he finished the game with 32 points while shooting 12 of 24 from the field. Wall also had 14 assists to complete his monstrous double-double performance. Bradley Beal added 22 points, while Markieff Morris had 21 points and seven rebounds for the home team. Marcin Gortat added a double-double with 14 points and ten rebounds. All five Wizards starters scored in double digits in points.
The best individual for the Atlanta Hawks was a point guard Dennis Schroder, who had 25 points and nine assists in 35 minutes on the floor. Paul Millsap added 19 points, but he took only eight shots. Dwight Howard had 14 big rebounds but wasn't really a threat on the offensive end, as he scored only seven points. Tim Hardaway Jr. had a really disappointing game, as he missed all of his six three-point attempts, shooting only 2 of 11 from the field.
A low scoring first half
The Washington Wizards opened a game better, as they had 23-12 lead with 3:38 left on the clock in the first quarter. Atlanta responded with a 15-2 run and won the first quarter 29-25. In the second quarter, both teams have struggled offensively, but the Hawks went on a break with a three-point lead.
It was 48-45 at the half in favor of Atlanta.
John Wall's influence
The Wizards started the second half with some great shooting, as they quickly took the lead. John Wall and Markieff Morris were on fire in the third quarter, and with Wall's three-pointer with 2:25 left on the clock the Wizards had a 14 point lead. They outscored Atlanta 38-28 in that quarter.
In the final quarter, both teams continued to play some good offense, but the Wizards managed to save their lead. The final result was 114-107 in favor of the home team.
The Wizards took exactly a one hundred shots in this game, which is a big number for a playoff game. They shot 45 percent from the field and 95 percent from the free throw line.
The Hawks, on the other end, took only 78 shots, 22 less than the Wizards. That was a key fact in this game.
Here is what John Wall said after the game: "This is my house. I'm letting them all know that this is my house. It doesn't matter if I am scoring or my teammates are scoring. But to be honest, I get more excited when I get a nice assist than I do scoring."
A second game is on schedule for Wednesday in Washington at Verizon Center, at 7:00 pm.
