A win is a win in the playoffs. At this time year, only select teams of the remaining few can consider process more valuable than results. Are the Atlanta Hawks one of them?
Four All-Stars, the Coach of the Year, and a 60-22 regular season record suggest so. But basketball isn’t played on individual achievements or past success. The present looms largest in spring and early summer especially, and Atlanta’s still doesn’t seem quite right – even after its series-tying victory in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Led by another stellar effort from DeMarre Carroll, the Hawks beat the short-handed Washington Wizards 106-90 at Phillips Arena on Tuesday night. Carroll scored a game-high 22 points – his sixth straight outing of 20-plus – for the Hawks, while Al Horford and Paul Millsap added 18 apiece. Washington was led by surprise starter Ramon Sessions’ 21 points, and Bradley Beal scored 20 of his own – though they came after 22 shots.
But the box score statistics don’t tell this game’s story. John Wall was a late scratch due to lingering soreness in his wrist, yet the Wizards still had a legitimate chance at victory. They led late in the third quarter behind Sessions’ personal outpour, were within seven points as the fourth quarter clock read 3:15 after Paul Pierce drained another triple.
Second-round postseason games are supposed to be that competitive at least – only eight teams remain in the field, after all. But the absence of Wall looms even larger for Washington than a typical All-Star starter’s would for any other squad. The Wizards are devoid of consistent playmaking without their floor general; Sessions is a score-first lead guard, and Beal’s ability to create shots is still a work in progress.
Wall’s off-court offensive rating was a team-worst 97.6 during the regular season, and 99.2 in the playoff before he sat for the entirety of Game 2 – a mark 7.4 points worse than his closest teammate’s. He’s Randy Wittman’s offensive bellwether.
But the Hawks eventually buckled down, making Washington seem like the supremely limited group it is while Wall is off the floor. What’s plagued Atlanta throughout the playoffs more than anything is their performance on the other end, and that continued for a majority of Tuesday’s contest even though the team’s 111.6 offensive rating directly refutes that assertion.
And while there wasn’t an obvious cause of those labors in the first-round versus the Brooklyn Nets, there might be now. Jeff Teague simply wasn’t himself on Tuesday night, lacking the aggression and burst that spurred him to his first All-Star selection this season. He shot just 3-of-12 from the field en route to nine points, and had trouble containing Sessions off the bounce.
A potential explanation for Teague’s lethargic performance: he tweaked his ankle just a few minutes after tip-off in Game 1 before returning later in the second quarter.
Injuries are never ideal, of course, but the Hawks should count themselves lucky if minor ankle discomfort is what’s bothering Teague most. They don’t play again until Friday, affording players ample time for rest and rehabilitation in advance of Game 3.
If Teague is healthy, though, his sustained struggles remain vexing. So do those of Kyle Korver, plus the sudden inability of Horford to connect from mid-range and Millsap to take advantage at the rim. The only Atlanta starter who’s looked like himself since the postseason began is Carroll, and he might be playing over his head.
This is a very, very important win for Atlanta. It says something about their current straits, however, that a victory alone is reason for celebration; three months ago, Mike Budenholzer’s team would have been relatively displeased with a win like Game 2’s.
There’s still time for the Hawks to live up to their awesome play of the regular season’s majority. But it will run out soon enough, and another confounding performance makes them seem like a fringe title contender as opposed to a legitimate one.
