Atlanta Hawks vs. Washington Wizards: Game 3 Grades and Analysis
The Washington Wizards survived a self-induced scare Saturday, barely holding off the Atlanta Hawks bench in a 103-101 victory at the Verizon Center.
The Wizards led by 19 at the close of the third quarter and stretched it to 21 at one point in the fourth. Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer seemingly waved the white flag and removed his starters from the game with seven minutes left.
To the surprise of probably everyone but the Hawks on the floor, the reserves went on a furious run to completely eliminate the deficit. The game-tying bucket was a three from seldom-used Mike Muscala, as NBA.com/Stats noted:
But in true Paul Pierce fashion, The Truth prevailed in the clutch. Pierce hit a game-winning, banked-in jump shot over three players to give the Wizards a 2-1 edge in the series, which the NBA's official Twitter account noted:
A trio of Wizards helped establish the big lead in the first place, scoring 17 points each. Nene went 7-of-9 from the field, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists. Bradley Beal was 6-of-15 and had eight assists. Otto Porter went 7-of-15, grabbed nine boards and had four assists.
| Bradley Beal | B+ |
| Paul Pierce | B+ |
| Marcin Gortat | B+ |
| Nene | B+ |
| Rest of Team | B |
| Paul Millsap | Excused |
| Al Horford | C+ |
| Jeff Teague | C |
| Kyle Korver | C- |
| DeMarre Carroll | B- |
| Rest of Team | A+ |
Washington Wizards
Bradley Beal: B+
ESPN's commentators, Dave Pasch and P.J. Carlesimo, relayed over and over that Wizards coach Randy Wittman expected Beal to lead the team in assists. With Wall out, he had to be the playmaker.
As such, Beal was very effective. He proved capable of getting into the lane and collapsing Atlanta's defense, then showed an ability and willingness to find open teammates. His eight assists led all players on both sides.
As solid as he was offensively, Beal might've been even more impactful on defense. He was often matched up with Kyle Korver, who only managed to get three shots up in 34 minutes.
Paul Pierce: B+
Thanks to Nene's sudden arrival and tons of energy off the bench from Otto Porter, Paul Pierce didn't have to play a ton of minutes.
But Pierce still managed to make a massive impact in the 26 he played. He once again stretched the floor for Washington's offense, shooting 3-of-7 from three-point range on the way to 13 points.
Marcin Gortat: B+
He didn't do anything particularly flashy, but Marcin Gortat put in an extremely efficient 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting. When he caught the ball within five feet of the rim, he was simply too big. Catch, turn and flip it in was pretty common.
On the other end, Gortat did a solid job of keeping Horford out of the paint. The Hawks big man had to get most of his points from catch-and-shoot jumpers.
Nene: B+
After recording zero field goals over the first two games of the series, Nene woke up in a big way. Right out of the gate, it was clear Nene meant business, scoring eight of his 17 points in the opening frame. NBA.com's John Schuhmann described Nene's exceptional scoring ability as being a "beast" sometimes:
He was attacking the rim relentlessly, taking advantage of Atlanta starting Pero Antic over the flu-ridden Paul Millsap. Antic, and later the weakened Millsap, was never able to stay with Nene when he determined to drive.
Rest of Team: B
The NBA's official Twitter account provided highlights of Porter's reverse layup:
Starting in place of Wall, Ramon Sessions had a terrible time finding his own offense. He shot 2-of-10 from the field on the way to eight points. He did do a decent job of creating, though, finishing the game with six assists.
Off the bench, the biggest performer was Porter. Just on cutting hard to the rim alone, he scored eight points, beating multiple Hawks off back cuts and in transition. HoopsCritic.com's Josh Eberly assesses that Porter is looking "better and better" on the court:
Will Bynum and Drew Gooden were the other reserves to log meaningful minutes. They combined to score 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
Atlanta Hawks
Paul Millsap: Excused
Clearly suffering from the flu, Millsap was a shell of his usual self in the 23 minutes he played.
For as long as he was on the floor, he looked like he needed a nap and only managed to score eight points on 2-of-6 shooting.
Defensively, he couldn't stay with Nene or anyone else he happened to be defending. And it looked painful for him to even attempt to retrieve a couple of loose balls. Cox Media's Robby Kalland noted a Millsap "highlight" moment—making a steal, despite clearly not feeling well:
Al Horford: C+
Offensively, Horford had a steady, solid game. He was hitting as a catch-and-shoot option off drives and showed a willingness to pass when he wasn't open. He finished with 12 points on 6-of-13 shooting and four assists.
Defensively, he was nowhere near as effective. He didn't have the size or muscle to move Gortat away from his preferred spots, but he did manage to grab 10 rebounds.
Jeff Teague: C
With the exception of a strong third quarter (in which he went 3-of-5), Jeff Teague had a very difficult time breaking down Washington's defense.
Whether he was trying to create for himself or others, Teague simply couldn't find open driving lanes and finished the game at 5-of-15. Seth Partnow described Ramon Sessions dominating Teague as "problematic":
"Jeff Teague being played to a draw by Ramon Sessions is problematic.
— Seth Partnow (@SethPartnow) May 9, 2015"
He salvaged his line by getting to the free-throw line and looking for his teammates, as he finished with 18 points, seven assists and three steals.
Kyle Korver: C-
Two of Korver's five shots came in the final minute of regulation. With his team down three, Korver got two solid looks at three and missed both. In the first quarter, he hit two in a row.
And that about sums up his entire game. Beal and the rest of the Wizards' defensive effort to eliminate Korver from the game was fantastic, as NBA analyst Nate Duncan pointed out:
DeMarre Carroll: B-
DeMarre Carroll wasn't the same flame-throwing scorer he's been for the Hawks throughout the playoffs, but he still managed to post a decent line.
He scored 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting, to go with four rebounds and two steals.
Defensively, where Carroll was impactful in the regular season, he struggled to keep up with Porter's energy.
Rest of Team: A+
If it wasn't for Antic, I might've given the "Rest of Team" section two plus signs (something I've never done on game grades). The big man who started in place of Millsap grabbed one rebound and scored one point on 0-of-4 shooting. Based on his performance, Rafael Uehara questioned Budenholzer keeping Antic on the floor:
Other than that, the rest of the Hawks were fantastic. The insane level of energy they brought to the fourth quarter can best be summed up by Shelvin Mack's plus-minus. In just seven minutes, he finished plus-16.
Mike Scott was plus-15 in 16 minutes. Mike Muscala was plus-10 in 13. Combined, those three scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
Then throw Dennis Schroder, who had 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting, into that mix. Add the energy of Kent Bazemore, who scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting and you start to see how the Hawks managed to cut the lead from 21 to zero in one quarter.
Coming Up Next
Freelance reporter Roscoe Whalan shared Coach Budenholzer's assessment of the Wizards' performance:
Game 4 will be Monday, May 11, at 7 p.m. ET in Washington.
The Hawks will need the kind of energy the everyone from the bench brought to tie the series. Having a healthy Millsap (hopefully) should help with that.
Washington, meanwhile, needs to continue to attack Atlanta inside. Gortat and Nene should be able to get loads of open looks against their smaller opponents.
Andy Bailey covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him @AndrewDBailey.
