Sir Charles in Charge
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John Wall’s Revenge

By Chris "fre$h" Willis

Nov 4, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) brings the ball up court as Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schroder (17) looks on during the first half at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 4, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) brings the ball up court as Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schroder (17) looks on during the first half at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /
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John Wall returns to NBA Playoffs to face team that eliminated the Washington Wizards as they were gaining momentum in the 2015 playoffs. Can he get revenge?

John Wall and the Washington Wizards were on a roll in the 2015 NBA playoffs. The Wiz Kids swept the Toronto Raptors in the first round then took Game 1 of the Eastern Semifinals against the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks.

Not only had the Wizards stole homecourt advantage against the favorites, but they were on a franchise-record five-game winning streak. However, after winning Game 1, John wall injured his hand – which ended up being worse than originally diagnosed – and missed the next three playoff games.

Even though the Wizards still fought hard, thanks in large part to some Paul Pierce heroics, the Hawks would go on to win the series in six.

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Now, the Washington Wizards return to the playoffs against the Hawks looking for revenge.

In a showdown between the 4th and 5th seed respectively, the Wizards will have homecourt advantage this time around.

Washington took the regular season series this year 3-1 against Atlanta and Wall averaged 16 points and eight assists in those contests. The core of that young Wizards team is still together and saw career years from players such as Bradley Beal and Otto Porter, but the driving force is still John Wall, who this year took his game to the next level.

After the team struggled in the 2015-16 season and got off to a rocky start this year, John Wall took it upon himself to change the narrative. Not only did he turn Washington’s season around, but he reinserted himself into the elite player discussion.

Wall averaged career highs in points, assist, steals, and field goal percentage while on course to being named to his 4th NBA All-Star game. Thanks to 23 points and nearly 11 assists per game this year, Wall catapulted the Wizards to a 49-33 finish and spent a good portion of the year fighting for a top 3 seed in the conference.

The focus for the Wizards should be on building confidence in a series in which they have homecourt advantage against a team they were able to be beat three times during the regular season. This confidence would lead them again to a potential 2nd round matchup with the No. 1 seed, but this time the team is the Isaiah Thomas led Boston Celtics.

These two teams split their season series 2-2. With Wall as the driving force, the Wizards have the talented to make a run and beat the Celtics in route to a potential matchup against the defending champion LeBron James led Cleveland Cavaliers. Considering Washington’s youth in their top 3 players (Wall 26, Beal 23, Porter 23), this matchup could shape the Eastern Conference for the next few seasons.

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In the end, I do not believe the Washington Wizards have enough to overtake the Cavs this year, despite having young talent mixed with some veteran experience. With that said, with a John Wall on the floor and knowing how close they were to an East Finals appearance just two seasons ago, I see him taking his game to an even higher level and submitting his argument as a top 3 point guard in the NBA.

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