Wall, Wizards eliminate Hawks
John Wall scored 42 points, Bradley Beal added 31 and the Washington Wizards withstood a furious Atlanta comeback to close out the Hawks with a 115-99 victory Friday night, winning the opening-round playoff series 4-2.
The Hawks fell behind by 22 early in the third quarter before making a game of it down the stretch. But the home team never led, and Wall stymied the rally with huge plays at both ends of the court.
Wall’s block of Dennis Schroder’s layup kept the Hawks from closing within a single point, and Wall hit every big shot in the closing minutes. He scored 19 points in the fourth quarter, ensuring that Washington picked up the first road victory by either team in the series.
The Wizards advanced to face topseeded Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Celtics closed out the Bulls 4-2 with a 105-83 victory in Chicago.
Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 31 points, and Schroder had 26.
After losing three close games in Washington, the Hawks seemed to run out of steam in the return to Philips Arena, ending a disappointing season.
Washington pushed out to a double-digit lead late in the first quarter, and closed the first half on a 19-4 run to take a 65-46 lead at the break.
The Hawks turned the ball over six times during that five-minute stretch, making things easy for the Wizards.
Atlanta finished with 22 turnovers, including seven by Kent Bazemore.
But it was Wall, still seething over a second-round loss to the Hawks two years ago in which he was sidelined with a broken hand, taking control in the final period. Avery Bradley scored 23 points, and the hotshooting Boston Celtics pounded the Chicago Bulls to win their firstround series 4-2. The top-seeded Celtics simply torched Chicago to finish off a tougher-thananticipated series and advance in the playoffs for the first time since 2012. Boston regrouped after dropping the first two games at home and will meet Washington in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Game 1 is Sunday. Bradley finished one point shy of a playoff career high he set in Game 5. He nailed three 3-pointers and the Celtics hit 16 of 39 from long range.