Perhaps DeMarre Carroll said it best.
“You can’t score 35 points in the second half and expect to beat this team,” was how he summed up a Game 1 loss to the Wizards.
That’s exactly what happened to the Hawks in a 104-98 loss in the opener of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Sunday afternoon at Philips Arena. The Hawks scored more points in the first quarter (37) than in the second half (35).
Just like that, the No.1-seeded Hawks had lost their home-court advantage.
The Hawks led by as many as 12 points after scoring the opening basket of the third quarter. They would shoot just 25 percent (13 of 52), including 19 percent (4 of 21) from 3-point range, over the final two quarters. They tallied 20 and 15 points in the third and fourth periods. When Bradley Beal scored with 10:10 remaining, he gave the Wizards an 85-83 lead, their first since they led 9-7 minutes into the game.
The Hawks never led again.
“As the game went on it was harder and harder for us to score,” Kyle Korver said. “You give their defense credit. We have to watch the film to see how we can get some easier shots. I felt like, especially toward the end, a lot of our shots were difficult shots and they had us out of sync. We talk a lot about playing a 48-minute game. I thought we played well for a good part of the game, especially in the playoffs to have to play 48 minutes. That was a tough one.”
It was especially tough on the Hawks after a torrid first-quarter start. The Hawks outscored the Wizards 37-26 after shooting 63.6 percent (14 of 22) in the opening period. It was the highest-scoring quarter this postseason and third-highest in any postseason for the Hawks. They would take a 63-53 advantage into the intermission with the highest point total for any half in these playoffs.
It was all gone with that miserable second half.
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said his team took too many jump shots.
“They made more plays in the second half then we did,” Budenholzer said. “Defensively, we had a couple lags, a couple lulls, that allowed them to get back in it and then get some separation. Offensively, we have to be more aggressive. We have to get to the paint. We have to attack more and continue to move the ball. It has to start with us being more aggressive offensively and being more aggressive getting to the paint.”
Carroll continued to put up big offensive numbers for the Hawks. He led all five starters in double figures with 24 points on 8 of 13 shooting, including five 3-pointers. Carroll scored 21 first-half points but was just 1 of 4 the rest of the game. Carroll has now scored 20 or more points in five straight postseason games, the first Hawks player to do so since Dominique Wilkins in 1989.
The Hawks also got double-doubles for Al Horford (17 points, 17 rebounds) and Paul Millsap (15 points, 12 rebounds). Korver added 13 points and Jeff Teague had 11 points.
“We came out shooting the ball well and then it just went bad,” Teague said.
The Wizards were led by their backcourt due of Bradley Beal with a game-high 28 points and John Wall with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Both survived injury scares. Beal had to leave for a short time after spraining his ankle in the fourth quarter. Wall had to get his left wrist taped after a fall in the second quarter.
The Wizards are now 5-0 in the postseason after a first-round sweep of the Raptors.
“We maybe fell in love with the 3 a little bit too much in the second half and we probably should have attacked more,” Carroll said. “That is something we’ve got to go back and look at the film. I think we are still a confident group. We know we let one slip away. It’s the first to four (wins). … There is a lot more basketball left.”
Hawks players did not want to use the short turnaround as an excuse for their poor shooting late in Game 1. The Hawks advanced with a first-round win over the Nets on Friday night. The Wizards wrapped up their series quickly and had been idle for a week.
Also of note, the Hawks lost a game they led by double-digits. Winning those games was a nearly a given during the regular season. That has not been the case this postseason.
“Everybody is a little upset at themselves, individually and collectively,” Kent Bazemore said. “We know we’ve got to do better. It’s a simple fix though. Energy is what we need to bring consistently for 48 minutes. We slipped there for a minute. Being up 10, 12, we let our hair down a little bit and it should be the opposite. We should turn it up. Like the third quarter of (Game 6) against the Nets. When we get a team down, we have to turn it up. We couldn’t do that tonight.”
Game 2 of the series is Tuesday.
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