Hawks even series with much-needed Game 2 victory (updated)

This time, there was no second-half collapse.

Mostly.

The Hawks nearly let another double-digit lead get away before a solid fourth-quarter rally saved a 106-90 victory over the Wizards in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at Philips Arena Tuesday night. With the win, the Hawks evened the best-of-seven series, 1-1.

The Hawks lost a 10-point first-half lead by late in the third quarter before the game-winning rally. They went on a 15-8 run to start the final period and assumed a 12-point advantage at 95-83 for a critical win.

The Hawks controlled much of the game. The Wizards’ last lead came at 7-6 with 8:32 left in first quarter. The Hawks have held a double-digit lead in seven of their eight playoff games but are 5-3.

The series shifts to Washington for Game 3 on Saturday.

“That’s been coach’s (Mike Budenholzer) beef with us the entire playoffs, relinquishing leads,” guard Kent Bazemore said. “The great teams take that step. You look up and they are up 15, they’re up 17. If the other team does make a run, they are still down 10. That’s just the next step we have to take as a team, keeping our foot on the gas.”

In a late pregame twist, the Wizards announced All-Star point guard John Wall would not play he insisted he would be available. He was declared inactive following pregame warm-ups with an sore left wrist suffered in a fall during Game 1 on Sunday. In Sunday game, Wall had 18 points and 13 assists in the Wizards series-opening win. His replacement Ramon Sessions, who averaged 7.7 points during the regular season but finished with 21.

DeMarre Carroll, who led the Hawks with a game-high 22 points, was asked how the Hawks’ game plan changed without Wall.

“If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you,” he said. “We kept the same game plan. Ramon Sessions is a really good player. … I think we turned the intensity up a little more and kept our focus.”

Carroll led the Hawks once again. It was his sixth straight 20-point postseason game, a feat last performed for the Hawks by Dominique Wilkins in 1988.

Paul Millsap had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Al Horford (18), Kyle Korver (12) and Kent Bazemore (10) rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Hawks. Jeff Teague, who said he was disappointed with his play, nearly had a triple-double with nine points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

It was a different night after losing Game 1, when the Hawks were subjected to national second-consideration after winning 60 games.

The Hawks, who secured the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 60-win regular season, have been an afterthought on the national scene after needing six games to win their first-round series with the Nets and losing home-court advantage in the series opener against the Wizards.

“Coach doesn’t even allow us to have ESPN on in the player’s lounge,” Bazemore said. “We kind of live in this little bubble. He does a great job of keeping us grounded. The work we’ve done, it’s very good for us. It kind of irks you a little bit when you look on Twitter and they are still talking about the other teams. … When the time comes and we face those teams, then people can start talking. We are a very confident bunch.”

The Hawks entered the game seeking to be more aggressive than they were in Game 1. They were 22-of-25 from the free-throw line while the Wizards were just 8 of 14.

“The aggressor usually gets those calls,” Korver said. “It was big for us to be attacking the paint. That’s what we need to do. We have a bunch of guys who can do it. They were hedging our pick-and-rolls, trying to keep us out of the paint. We kept on swinging the ball and kept on going at them and got a couple calls there.”