The Wizards were working to make a comeback nearly the entire game and were unable to make the final push needed to take the lead away from Atlanta. The Wizards only held one lead throughout the game and spent all of their energy trying to erase the deficit created by the Hawks. On the other hand, Atlanta found a way to break away from the Wizards in the fourth quarter to finish the game off.
To win more games in the series, the Wizards must find a way to come out faster and not fall behind in the early going of the contest. In both games of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Wizards have come out sluggish and seem to not want the win as much as Atlanta does. Maybe the home fans get the Hawks ready to play, so maybe Washington will come out with some better starts once the series moves to Verizon Center.
The Wizards bigs continued to struggle throughout the game in terms of producing points for the team. Marcin Gortat scored 10 points on 5/10 shooting while Nene scored 2 points on 0/5 shooting.
Many fans are getting on Nene for his performance, but are not understanding he only took 5 shots in the game. If Nene is going to be productive, the guards need to find him more and get him more isolation plays in the post. The size advantage is there for Nene when Paul Millsap is guarding him, and the Wizards need to give him an opportunity to expose this mismatch.
The scoring from the guards was right where it needed to be even though John Wall was not available due to an injury to his wrist suffered in Game 1. Ramon Sessions was more than anybody ever expected him to be as he scored a team high 21 points on 8/14 shooting with 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal. Sessions showed he is ready whenever Wall needs a rest, and this performance should show himself he is ready to be a key performer off the bench for Washington.
Bradley Beal and Paul Pierce were hot from 3-point range, making a combined 7/11 3-pointers, and scoring a combined 35 points. Neither was great at the rear end of the game, but played very well through the earlier moments of the game.
The Wizards now have home court advantage, and will look to win both games at home to take full control of the series. With John Wall expected to be back for the games as home, the Wizards should get back on track for Game 3 on Wednesday.
