Wire to wire.
The Hawks find themselves back in their playoff series with the Wizards. Just like that.
The Hawks led by as many as 25 points en route to a 116-98 victory in the Eastern Conference first-round series Saturday at sold-out Philips Arena. The Wizards lead the best-of-seven series 2-1, with Game 4 at Philips Arena at 8 p.m. Monday.
Paul Millsap spoke loudly — with his play. The Hawks’ All-Star scored 29 points to go with 14 rebounds to lead the way in a must-win game. Millsap again outplayed the Wizards’ Markieff Morris, who at one point ran up the court screaming in Millsap’s face after he made a 3-pointer. They were three of his nine points.
“It feels great,” Millsap said of the battle with Morris. “I haven’t had anybody in my face like that in a long time. It feels great.”
After the game, Morris called Millsap a “crybaby.” When told that, Milllsap responded, “Take your loss and go back to the hotel.”
Millsap became the first player in franchise history to have 29 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal in a playoff game.
“Paul was great,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “When we went to him and relied on him, he came up big for us.”
Dennis Schroder added 27 points and nine assists, and Taurean Prince added 16 points for the Hawks, who received at least three points from all 10 players who entered the game before the final three minutes, when the game was in hand.
The Wizards were again led by their All-Star John Wall. The guard finished with 29 points on 10-of-12 shooting. Bradley Beal again struggled from the field and shot 6-of-20 from the field and finished with 12 points.
“You have to give John Wall credit for all he does in transition,” Budenholzer said.
The Hawks punched first — and hard.
After a white-hot start, the Hawks led by the 25 points in the first quarter. They made eight of their first 10 shots, including 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions, as the Wizards made only two of 12 shots to start the game. The Hawks led 19-4 with only 4:41 gone in the opening quarter.
With six minutes left in the first quarter, Schroder had scored 15 points and the Wizards had scored 13. The advantage hit the high of 25 points, at 38-13, on a Schroder 3-pointer. The Hawks led 38-20 after the first quarter. Schroder had scored 15 of the Hawks’ points and Wall had scored 14 of the Wizards’ total.
“We missed shots early, and we let it affect our defense,” Wizards coach Scott Brook said. “It wasn’t pretty. … I didn’t like our defense. We were hoping they would miss some shots instead of making them miss them.”
The Wizards got as close as 16 points in the second quarter, but the Hawks answered each run. The Hawks took a 64-46 lead into intermission. Schroder led the Hawks with 20 first-half points, and Millsap had 15 points and nine rebounds. Wall had 21 for the Wizards.
The Wizards closed to within 13 points, 71-58, early in the third quarter. The answered with a 14-4 run to push the lead back to a comfortable margin. They took a 90-67 advantage into the fourth quarter.
The Wizards made another run and closed to within 12 points, 93-81, in the fourth quarter. The Hawks answered with a 9-0 run to put the game out of reach.
The Hawks committed only 12 turnovers, and they led to only 12 fast-break points for the Wizards. It was a stark contrast from the first two games of the series. Budenholzer credited the pace the Hawks played with as a factor in the ball control.
“The effort and intensity,” Millsap said of the early success. “We haven’t come out with that kinds of effort and intensity in a long time.”
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