![John Wall's 42 points led the Wizards to a Game 6 elimination win over Atlanta. [Image via Blasting News image library/clutchpoints.com]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/4/29/660x290/b_502x220x82/john-walls-42-points-led-the-wizards-to-a-game-6-elimination-win-over-atlanta-image-via-blasting-news-image-libraryclutchpointscom_1298855.jpg "John Wall's 42 points led the Wizards to a Game 6 elimination win over Atlanta. [Image via Blasting News image library/clutchpoints.com]")
On friday night, the Atlanta Hawks hosted the Washington Wizards in a "must-win" Game 6 for the home team. Unfortunately, they caught a hot Wizards team with their backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal combining for 73 points. That helped propel Washington to a 115-99 victory, and a next round matchup with Friday night's other winners, the Boston Celtics. Here's a look at how Washington took this NBA Playoffs road win to move on.
Beal and Wall lead way
In tonight's game, the Washington Wizards took control for the first half, leading by a count of 65-46.
Atlanta charged back in the third quarter with a 36-24 performance to cut the lead down to just seven. However, Washington put their opponents away in the final quarter of the game with a 26-17 finish to take this best-of-seven game series.
The combination of Bradley Beal and John Wall was lethal for the Wizards in this closeout game. Beal scored 31 points on 11-for-17 shooting which included two three-point shots. Wall hit 16-of-25 shots which was good for a game-high 42. He also recorded eight assists, four steals, and two blocks in the win. As a team, the Wizards shot 53.8 percent including 41.7 percent from three-point range.
For the losing side, Paul Millsap was once again the team's leader scoring 31 points and pulling down 10 boards.
He also had seven assists, four steals and a block for a complete night of work. Teammate Dennis Schroder had 26 points on 8-for-18 shooting, with the Hawks shooting 47.4 percent for the game. However, the Wizards recorded 16 steals in the game to help generate a good bit of extra points.
What's up next?
With the loss, the Atlanta Hawks are officially eliminated from the 2017 NBA Playoffs.
The team will go back to the drawing board for next season. They had raised expectations this current season with the acquisition of Dwight Howard, but the losses of Kyle Korver and Jeff Teague may have hurt a bit. Still, the emergence of stars like Dennis Schroder and Tim Hardaway Jr. are bright spots for the future of this team which includes All-Star Paul Millsap.
The Washington Wizards are on to the second round. They'll take on the other winners tonight, the Boston Celtics. The Celtics defeated the Bulls in Chicago for their Game 6 victory and will host this next round series. Game 1 will take place on Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time in Boston, with a television channel yet to be announced.
The winner of this Eastern Conference semifinal series will take on the winner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors series in the other part of the East playoffs bracket.
