The Washington Wizards defeated the Atlanta Hawks 114-107 to take a 1-0 lead in the series this afternoon. After a slow first half, the Wizards were led by John Wall’s game-high 32 points and 14 assists to outscore the Hawks 69-59 in the 2nd half. For Atlanta, their leading scoring was Dennis Schroeder who had 25 points and not too far behind him was Paul Millsap with 19 points.
From just about tip-off, the physicality was ramped up, but the matchup between Markieff Morris and Paul Millsap was the one that stood out the most. The two did battle for most of the game and even had some words for each other as the 1st half ended. It’s unclear what the two were jawing at, but plays like this may be an indication why.
Millsap and Morris had some words at the end of the first half thanks to plays like this#NBAPlayoffspic.twitter.com/XKMQdKuvBm
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) April 16, 2017
After the game, Paul Millsap was asked about the psychical play and he had a very interesting way to describe the style of defense the Wizards were playing.
Millsap: We were playing basketball. They were playing MMA.
— Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) April 16, 2017
Now down 1-0 in the series, it will be interesting to see how Atlanta responds in game two and how physical this series gets.
