There never was a reason this shouldn’t be a series. These were the Wizards, for Pete’s sake, not the Warriors or the LeBrons. They’re a No. 4 seed with no 21st Century history of significant playoff achievement. We know the Hawks aren’t great, but the Wizards aren’t either. And yet: After two games, Washington was halfway to Round 2 and acting sassy.
Update: After three games, this officially is a series.
The Hawks obliterated the Wizards in the first quarter of Saturday’s Game 3. This wasn’t an utter shock. If the stop-and-start regular season taught us anything, it’s that these Hawks are never as helpless as they sometimes make us believe.
Remember the overtime victory over San Antonio? The epic rally during Super Bowl week in Houston? The run of three victories — Boston here, Cleveland with no starters there, Cleveland after trailing by 26 here — near the close of the regular season? Those are the Hawks, too. Just when you think, “They’ve nothing to show us,” they hit us with something.
They hit the Wizards with something that apparently caught the No. 4 seed by surprise, which tells us something about Washington. When you’re down 2-0 with Game 3 on your home floor, it’s desperation time. Desperate teams are fierce teams. Everyone knew the Hawks would try to slug the visitors early, everyone except the visitors, who stood around and allowed themselves to be slugged.
The Hawks led by 15 points after four minutes and 41 seconds, by 25 after 10:51. This wasn’t just the Wizards being awful (though they were); this was the Hawks being terrific. They made 65.2 percent of their shots in the quarter, 55.6 percent of their 3-pointers. In Games 1 and 2 in D.C., they’d made 42 and 24.2 percent. Things are different when the ball’s falling.
Things are also different when you’re trying harder than the other team, which the Hawks demonstrably were. The Wizards apparently believed what they’d done in Games 1 and 2 would suffice in Game 3, a common failing with teams not steeped in the ways of postseason. The Hawks were sharper in their cuts, smoother in their defensive rotations, quicker to every loose ball. Playoffs, man.
If not for the great John Wall, the Wizards might have found themselves down 40, not just 25. He scored 14 of Washington’s 20 first-quarter points. He made four of his five shots; his Wiz brethren missed 15 of 18. Even so, Wall wasn’t the best guard on the court in this first quarter. Dennis Schroder was. He scored 15 points on eight shots and had three assists. (He finished with 27 and nine.)
Schroder’s speed sent the Hawks off and flying, and the Hawks’ start was everything. This was the rare NBA game decided in its first 12 minutes. “The aggressiveness of our group coming out of the gate was important for us,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said, telling no lies.
Then: “The guys focused their attention, and we were able to keep that edge for the most part. … The guys were great. They were coaching themselves.”
Said Wizards coach Scott Brooks: “They jumped on us. The sense of urgency was very high. I wouldn’t say we came out relaxed, but we missed shots and that affected our defense. When that happens, it isn’t pretty.”
The closest the Wizards would come after the first 11 minutes was to draw within 12 points, which isn’t all that close, early in the fourth quarter. Then came the moment that could stand as the game in miniature: Washington’s Kelly Oubre Jr. had inside position for an offensive rebounds; Hawks sub Mike Muscala ripped it from his hands. Final score: Hawks 116, Wizards 98. Playoffs, man.
Other encouraging signs for the local crew: Paul Millsap, who scored 29 points, destroyed the mouthy Markieff Morris, who missed 10 of 14 shots; Tim Hardaway Jr. didn’t score much (eight points), but helped induce an awful shooting night from Bradley Beal, who missed 14 of 20; the Hawks, who averaged 14.5 assists in the first two games, had 26 this night.
The ball moved. The shots dropped. Funny how that works.
As emphatic as this Game 3 victory was, it would be wrong to say that the series is now the Hawks’ to lose. They’ll have to win a game in the district to prevail, but they did give a better account of themselves up there than the Wizards did here Saturday. There was never a reason this series should be unwinnable. By definition, a 4-versus-5 should be a hairbreadth thing.
If nothing else, the Hawks just kicked the sass off the Wizards. They know they’re not sweeping. If they don’t play better in Game 4, the pressure will revert to them for Game 5. The belief remains that neither of these teams is good enough to put the other away without strain. The belief also remains that there’s no reason the Hawks can’t up and win this thing.
