WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Wizards' John Wall will miss Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series against the Hawks Saturday with multiple fractures in his left hand. The All-Star point guard suffered the injury in Game 1 of the series and missed Game 2.
Wizards coach Randy Wittman offered no long-term prognosis on Wall other than he would not play Game 3. Game 4 of the series is Monday.
The Wizards won Game 1 of the series in Atlanta as Wall had 18 points and 13 assists. They lost Game 2 without their star guard.
Wittman said the Wizards will have to be more cognizant of good ball movement without Wall.
“I’m not going to put someone on the floor that’s John,” Wittman said. “I’ve just got to be who we are. We have to play within ourselves. We have to be aggressive. We’ve got to have more ball movement because John makes a lot of plays. The ball is in his hands a lot.”
Ramon Sessions started Game 2 and had a team-high 21 points but just four assists.
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer didn’t offer much when asked if there were lessons to take from Game 2.
“Giving them a few different looks, regardless of who plays or who doesn’t play, is something in any playoff series that is helpful,” Budenholzer said. “We’ll probably continue to do that.”
As for Hawks players, they gave little concern about facing the Wizards with or without Wall.
“You don’t want to get wrapped up in a game plan for somebody and then they don’t play,” Shelvin Mack said. “You focus on the things you can control which is ourselves and our attitude.”
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