The Washington Wizards look to close out a close series Friday night when they travel to Atlanta to take on the Atlanta Hawks. Betting lines have the Hawks favored by three points and the over/under is set at 210.5. The game is bound to be a close finish like the whole series has been.
Game 5 review
The Wizards pulled out a Game 5 win behind Bradley Beal's 27 points and John Wall's 20 points and 14 assists. Washington didn't shoot the ball from beyond the arc very well, but they got it done in fast break points and defense. Down the stretch, they took it to Atlanta on the defensive end and made a statement that they aren't going to get walked over on that end of the floor.
Dennis Schroder played great, with 29 points on 10 of 18 shooting, but the rest of the team wasn't as successful.
Keys for Atlanta
Atlanta needs to dictate the pace early on in the game. The Wizards play much better than them in fast break scenarios, so the Hawks will need to slow the game down and make Washington earn their buckets. This is much easier said than done, especially with John Wall being on the opposing team. Once they slow the game down, the Hawks need to attack Washington and make their free throws. In Game 5 they shot just 14 of 21 from the line. This has to improve if the Hawks want to extend this series.
Keys for Washington
For Washington, they need to speed the game up. If Atlanta is trying to slow it down, Washington needs to get out and run.
Wall, Beal, and guys like Porter and Oubre can all run the floor and create space. They need to push the tempo whenever they can and hit shots. Their three-point shooting in Game 5 was bad, so if they clean that up a bit and get out in the open floor, they can score at will on Atlanta. Defensively they need to limit Schroder.
Schroder has become a monster in this series and he's picking apart the Washington defense.
Role players
For both teams, the role players that need to step up for Washington are Oubre and Bogdanovic. Those two can score the ball well and they need to continue that scoring when Wall and Beal take their short breaks. For Atlanta, it's all about Kent Bazemore.
Bazemore is a scoring machine and he shot 3 for 12 in Game 5. He has to light it up off the bench for the Hawks to hang with Washington. The Hawks are short on weapons as it is and Bazemore is crucial.
This series has been close in every game, and time will tell whether or not fans will get to see a Game 7.
