Hawks vs. Wizards: Game 6 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 NBA Playoffs
A few hundredths of a second were all that separated the Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks on Friday night in Game 6. The Hawks walked away with a 94-91 victory, only after the referees waved off Paul Pierce's potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer.
In real time, it looked like Pierce got the shot off before the clock hit zero. However, upon further review, the ball was still on his fingertips as the red lights behind the backboard illuminated. This is how close Pierce was to sending Game 6 into overtime:
The Washington crowd went crazy when Pierce's shot went in, thinking he had saved the team's season. Instead, the Hawks prevailed and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The shot nearly redeemed what was Pierce's worst game of the series. He was just 1-of-7 from the floor for four points. Without his scoring, too much of the offensive burden fell to John Wall and Bradley Beal, who had 20 and 29 points, respectively, but missed a combined 27 of their 45 shot attempts.
Compare that to Atlanta, which had three different players score at least 20. DeMarre Carroll led the way with 25 points, while Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague each chipped in 20.
In the end, it wasn't a wholly convincing performance from the East's top seed, but the Hawks will have some time to examine what went right and what went wrong in this series.
For Washington, it's a heartbreaking defeat after getting so close to the conference finals, a stage the franchise hasn't reached since 1979.
The Wizards were mere seconds away from owning a 3-2 series edge over the Hawks. Pierce's late three-pointer in Game 5 gave Washington a one-point lead inside 10 seconds to go before Al Horford provided the game-winner for Atlanta.
A loss like that, especially in the playoffs, can have a major psychological effect on a team.
But any sort of negative impact for the Wizards players was likely offset by the positivity stemming from the fact Wall would be ready to go for Game 6 after playing 37 minutes in Game 5. More importantly, his injured hand was showing no signs of worsening.
"I didn’t get no swelling or anything, so that was the biggest key," Wall said before the game, per the Washington Post's Jorge Castillo. "And we wanted to check on it and make sure the bones were still in place and things like that, so everything was perfectly fine."
Whatever good feeling Washington had going into Friday night was quickly squandered with a sputtering offensive start.
The first half didn't exactly produce the most aesthetically pleasing basketball. The two teams combined to score 84 points on 36-of-95 shooting. Three key areas separated the Hawks and Wizards at halftime.
The first was Millsap, who accounted for a third (15) of his team's scoring output (45). He also had eight rebounds to round out a strong first-half performance. Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune continues to be impressed with the way the 30-year-old excels the longer he's in the league:
Millsap was a big reason the Hawks' starters nearly doubled the Wizards up when they were on the floor, which further helped to give Atlanta the lead, per ESPN.com's Kevin Arnovitz:
As one would expect from a team that only scored 39 points through two quarters, the Wizards really struggled to find their shooting stroke early in the game. Beal and Wall were a combined 8-of-19 in the first half for 20 points, while Pierce missed all four of his field-goal attempts and had zero points.
Nate Duncan of the Dunc'd On Basketball Podcast highlighted how the Wizards simply weren't setting themselves up well from an offensive perspective:
The Wizards looked to be slowly losing control of the game in the third quarter as they fell behind by 15 points, 62-47. As good as Pierce has been in critical moments for Washington, he was a serious liability on the defensive end. Carroll and Kyle Korver were getting by the veteran forward almost at will.
CBS Sports' Zach Harper had a nice comparison for Pierce's defense Friday:
It's likely not a coincidence that Pierce played his fewest minutes (24) of the series in Game 6.
However, the Wizards fought their way back as the third quarter wore on. Otto Porter slammed home a fast-break dunk with just over four minutes remaining in the period, energizing the crowd and getting Washington to within seven points.
For much of the second half following that jam, the two teams proceeded to exchange buckets. The Wizards couldn't trim the deficit, and the Hawks couldn't build an unassailable lead.
Two free throws from Millsap with 6:39 left in the game put Atlanta eight points to the good, 87-79, but then Washington mounted its comeback. The Wizards scored nine unanswered points to take an 88-87 lead.
NBA.com's John Schuhmann noted how the Hawks were their own worst enemy during the stretch:
Pro Basketball Talk's Kurt Helin also felt Atlanta stopped utilizing the offensive approach that has proven so successful this year:
Then Millsap scored to put Atlanta back on top by a point. After getting fouled by Millsap on the other end, Wall had a chance to put Washington in the lead once again with 1:14 remaining, but he only made one of his two free throws. That allowed Carroll to give the Hawks a two-point advantage shortly thereafter.
Nene's layup attempt that would've tied the game was well off the mark, and Carroll responded by doubling Atlanta's lead to four points with 30.7 seconds left.
A frenzied final sequence saw the Hawks turn the ball over and Garrett Temple knock down two of his free throws to make it a one-score game. After Horford missed the front end of a one-and-one, the Wizards had one last chance to tie the game. Pierce looked to have produced another brilliant postseason moment, but ultimately, his shot was after the buzzer.
The win means the Hawks next play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals. Cleveland is pretty banged-up at the moment, but a few days off will allow Kyrie Irving to heal and LeBron James to get some much-needed rest.
That series may indicate whether an NBA title contender truly needs that one superstar who can take the ball in the fourth quarter and make something happen.
One of the biggest criticisms surrounding the Hawks as they emerged as a serious championship threat was the lack of a true No. 1 scorer and playmaker. Atlanta has a great collective unit and a handful of very good players, but the team doesn't have somebody like James or Irving.
If Atlanta can knock the Cavs off, it may rewrite the blueprint for what it takes to win in the NBA.
