Hawks Ride Al Horford's Heroics to Overcome John Wall's Surprise Comeback

John Wall and the Washington Wizards were three seconds away from taking a 3-2 series lead back to Verizon Center.

Then Al Horford happened, and the Atlanta Hawks nabbed an 82-81 Game 5 victory.

After Wall had already totaled 15 points, seven assists, four steals and an emphatic swat with five non-displaced fractures in his left hand and wrist that caused him to miss three games, he skied for what appeared to be a game-saving block on Dennis Schroder.

But Horford just proved to be too much—even for Paul Pierce, who drilled a go-ahead corner three to give Washington a one-point lead with eight seconds left. ESPN Stats & Info shared a jaw-dropping stat regarding Horford and Pierce:

He flew in from outside the paint, snatched a rebound over Nene, sent the big man tumbling to the floor, cleared out the lane and calmly dropped a game-winning layup through the net with 1.8 seconds remaining in regulation.

For once, The Truth lied, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Chris Vivlamore:

And just like that, it's the Hawks who have a chance to close things out Friday night in the nation's capital.

Horford, the oft-overlooked glue of Atlanta's starting five, isn't suddenly emerging as a star. He's been one for a long time.

Now everyone has reason to take notice.

"Al was a monster for us," point guard Jeff Teague said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jeff Schultz.  

By totaling 23 points (10-of-18 shooting), 11 rebounds and five blocks, Horford joined Dwight Howard as the only players this postseason to compile at least 20 points, 10 boards and five rejections in a game.

Even he couldn't believe it.

The 28-year-old big set the tone early by blocking three shots in the opening five minutes, daring Nene to challenge him at the rim. Whether he was sliding over from the weak side to snuff point-blank attempts or simply going to toe-to-toe with Washington's hefty frontcourt, Horford refused to be punked in the paint.

For a team that's suddenly struggling to create easy offense, Horford has been the reliable outlet—calmly drifting away from the basket and hitting mid-range jumpers like few men his size can.

In Game 5, Horford shot 5-of-8 outside the paint, including a huge corner three that was part of an 8-0 run to shrink the Wizards' lead to one with 4:21 remaining in the fourth quarter. For the playoffs, Horford ranks second on the Hawks in scoring (15.8 points per game), first in boards (10.2), third in dimes (4.1) and third in field-goal percentage (48.2).

"He is our cornerstone," Kyle Korver told Grantland's Zach Lowe back in January. "His example—it's what the Hawks are. Or what we're trying to be."

As Atlanta and Washington traded clanks like brick masons, the Hawks needed all the help they could get. Heck, they looked dead in the water after failing to score their first basket of the final frame until there was 4:58 remaining in regulation. That late-game lethargy combined with 23 turnovers seemed to spell a death sentence for the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed.

"Atlanta got incredibly sloppy," CBSSports.com's James Herbert wrote. "We're talking turnovers, bad shots and a general sense of disorganization that you rarely saw from this team in the regular season. The Wizards' defense was stellar, as it has been all along, but they can't get all the credit for this sort of lull."

Horford had help, though, and it came from an unlikely source.

Schroder—who's been consumed by some overeager tendencies as a scorer, penetrator and passer, as so many young guns are—stepped up and played his best quarter of the playoffs when the Hawks were staring down the barrel at a 3-2 series deficit.

ESPN Stats & Info outlined his clutch play:

Six points, seven assists and five rebounds isn't usually a line worth spilling ink over, but in this case, it helped preserve the Hawks' postseason life.

Atlanta now turns to a closeout game, the first it's played in the second round since getting downed by the Boston Celtics in the 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals. If the Hawks succeed, they'll clinch the franchise's first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 1970—back when it was known as the Division Finals.

The good news: They've won three second-round games for the first time in 27 years and have better than an 85 percent chance to advance after seizing control of the series, according to WhoWins.com.

The bad news: Wall played out of his skull and resembled a bionic being, and he appears motivated to keep giving it a go with Pierce by his side, according to CBS Sports NBA:

Just look at how he tormented Teague in transition early on:

Most players would have a tough time doing that without fractures in their off hand, but Wall didn't let some supposed debilitation slow him down.

Flanked by Bradley Beal, who tallied a team-high 23 points, seven rebounds, four helpers and three blocks, Wall looked like he had a chance to etch his name into NBA folklore.

However, his journey's not over just yet.

Game 6 (7 p.m. ET Friday on ESPN) will offer Wall and the Wizards another chance to right their inefficient wrongs, which were brought on by shaky 37.5 percent shooting.

Looking to extend the series, the Wizards need to take cues from their fearless leader and feed off his infectious energy.

If they do, this thing might go the distance.

All statistics are current as of May 13 and courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com unless noted otherwise.

Alec Nathan covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @AlecBNathan.