The Washington Wizards took Game 5 over the Atlanta Hawks with a 103-99 victory at the Verizon Center. The Wizards now have a 3-2 lead in the series, as they need just one more win to proceed into the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Washington will have a chance to finish the job on Friday at Philips Arena, as the series will move back to Atlanta.
John Wall has dominated the entire series
The Wizards shot 45 percent from the field and 29 percent from the three point line as a team, but they had a solid night on the defensive end with 10 blocks and eights steals.
They held Atlanta to just 41 percent shooting from the field. Bradley Beal was a leading scorer for the Wizards with 27 points in 41 minutes on the floor, while shooting 50 percent from the field. Beal had a terrible game from behind the arc, as he made only one of his nine three point attempts. But, he was effective inside the arc, as he made 10 of 13 two-point attempts.
As usual, John Wall was filling his stat sheet all night long, as he finished the game with 20 points, six rebounds, 14 assists, and one steal, while shooting 9 of 20 from the field and 1 of 3 from the outside. Otto Porter Jr. added 17 points and five rebounds, as he took only four shots, but was very effective from the foul line, making 9 of his 10 free throw attempts.
Bojan Bogdanovic was an important contribution off the bench, as he scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while shooting 4 of 7 from the field, 2 of 3 from downtown, and 4 of 4 form the free-throw line. The Wizards bench outscored the Hawks bench 26-19.
Great performance by Dennis Schroeder
Dennis Schroeder had an impressive game on Wednesday night, as he scored 29 points and had eleven assists, while shooting 10 of 18 from the field and an amazing 5 of 6 from the three point line.
Paul Millsap also had a double-double with 21 points and eleven rebounds, but he missed some big shots at the end of the game that could have turned things around. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 15 points in 37 minutes on the floor, as he took ten three-point attempts and made three of them. Dwight Howard had another quiet night offensively, as he had just five points and ten rebounds, while taking only three field goal attempts in 28 minutes of play.
The biggest problem for the Hawks was a lack of support from the bench, as none of the bench players scored in double-digits.
The next game is on the schedule for Friday at 7:30 pm, as the series will move back to Atlanta.
