Long ago, Red Holzman, then the New York Knicks’ coach, offered this pearl of wisdom to Larry Merchant, then a writer for the New York Post: “The odd-numbered games of a series are important; the even-numbered games are critical.”
Game 4 of Hawks-Wizards met the criterion for critical, and darned if it didn’t feel fairly eventful. The Hawks could have lost big but won 111-101, sending the cocksure Washington Wizards home to D.C. feeling rather less cocky and no longer sure of anything. Yes, the Hawks still have to win in Washington to take the series, but these the Wizards really don’t appear to be anything special.
If they were, they’d have taken Game 4 and run with it. Instead they got run down. They came apart in the way a good team does not. As for the Hawks: They prevailed on a night when not much went right early, which suggests — not for the first time, we note — that this unassuming team is at its best when you figure it’s about to get routed. (Which makes no sense, but there it is.)
Game 4 began with Paul Millsap drawing two quick fouls on Markieff Morris, whose mouth — he called Millsap “a crybaby” after Game 3 — had become the Talking Point, figuratively and literally, of this series. But Jason Smith, in for Morris, hit a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Wizards their first lead since the series shifted here. Then Dennis Schroder was called for his third foul with 2:29 remaining in the first quarter, even as Jose Calderon waited at the scorer’s table to replace him.
If the Hawks go on to win this series — and they very well might — we’ll point to this second quarter as the pivot point. Games 1 and 2 had gone to the Wizards in D.C. Game 3 had yielded the customary last-stand effort from the trailing team. In sum, there hadn’t been much to see. The second quarter of Game 4 was when things got interesting.
Leading by nine points with 10:22 left in the half with Schroder — who’d scored at least 20 points in each of the first three games — not apt to play again until the third quarter, the Wizards had a chance to put the Hawks in a 20-point hole. Instead they were outscored 31-15 in the period, going 4:44 without a point while the Hawks caught and passed them.
Beggaring belief, John Wall was outplayed in the second quarter by Calderon, the waiver pickup logging serious minutes only because of Schroder’s three fouls. Calderon soon had three himself, but he also scored eight points, the final three coming on a corner jumper with nine seconds left in the half that pushed the Hawks’ lead to 59-50, and made four assists. Calderon’s plus/minus for the second quarter was an astonishing Plus-22. (Plus-29 for the game!)
Kent Bazemore helped with playmaking and distribution, making five first-half assists, two coming on consecutive lobs to Dwight Howard, who scored nearly as many points in this half (14) as in Games 1, 2 and 3 combined (18). The Hawks didn’t have Schroder, but they were finding ways to score.
The game changed because the Hawks’ bench players changed it, even when forced to work against Washington’s A-listers. Points by reserves in Half 1 of Game 4: Hawks 24, Wizards 12. Shots missed by Wall in the second quarter: Five. Turnovers by Wall in the second quarter: Four.
Surely embarrassed by what had just occurred, the Wizards steadied in the third quarter. It was tied at 77 going to the fourth. The Hawks nosed ahead by four on Bazemore’s trey off a loose-ball scramble — for the second time in three days, the Hawks were quicker to the ball — whereupon Washington coach Scott Brooks made a mistake. He called timeout but, rather than bring back his starters with 10:26 left, kept five subs on the court.
Kelly Oubre Jr. fumbled his way into a shot-clock violation. Smith threw the ball away. Calderon, of all people, tipped home a fast-break miss by Tim Hardaway Jr. The Hawks’ lead was eight. Brooks called another timeout, but his team wouldn’t have the ball and the chance to take the lead again.
When Millsap rebounded a Schroder miss and banked home a shot while falling down – he’d been fouled by Marcin Gortat – the Hawks were up seven. When Schroder hit a trey, the lead was 10 and the series was even, though the clear impression is that the Hawks have forged ahead.
Put it this way: If Washington could impose its will on the lower seed, it would have by now. This series would seem to be the Hawks’ to lose.
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