The Washington Wizards once again turned expectations on their head by taking the first game of their second-round series against the Atlanta Hawks on the road, their NBA-record fourth consecutive Game 1 road win. But they did not come away unscathed: shooting guard Bradley Beal rolled his ankle when he landed on Al Horford’s foot coming down on a jump shot with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. It looked bad when it happened, and it looked even worse when we got a look at his face as he walked to the locker room:
It was a damn shame that Beal went down, because he was in the midst of one of the best games of his young playoff career, with 28 points and 7 rebounds. And of course, when you see tears on a grown man’s face following an injury, the natural reaction is to fear the worst. But Beal followed a pattern set earlier in the game when he surprisingly returned with just under four minutes remaining. He was clearly still hurting, however, and he was unable to finish the game.
In the first quarter, it was the Hawks’ Jeff Teague who caused the home fans to gasp with concern when he rolled his ankle on a fast-break layup:
Teague also went to the locker room, and also returned to the game with diminished effectiveness. Early on, he was penetrating, pushing the pace on the fast break and dishing beautiful passes as the engine of the beautiful Hawks offense that had defined their regular season. After his injury, he was tentative, and the Hawks began to lean heavily on their perimeter shooting, allowing the Wizards back into the game. He finished 4-14 from the field for 11 points.
John Wall had his own scary moment for the Wizards when he landed awkwardly on his wrist following a layup attempt:
Luckily, he seemed to recover more as the game went on, taking over in Beal’s absence in the fourth quarter to drive the Wizards to victory. Wall finished with 18 points and 13 dimes in the win. But all three players are now already banged up one game into what’s sure to be a tight series, and it remains to be seen how they recover once the adrenaline wears off and the swelling sets in.
Without Jeff Teague, the Hawks aren’t nearly as dynamic offensively, and without Bradley Beal, the Wizards are woefully short on outside shooting. No one likes to see injuries decide a playoff series, but it’s looking like that might be the case here.
(H/t Vinnyviner and Dan Steinberg)