The Washington Wizards Are No Fluke

The Washington Wizards are a lot of things, but their 2-0 series lead over the Atlanta Hawks is anything but a fluke

After the Washington Wizards closed out the final 3 minutes and 30 seconds of Game 2 on a 12-5 run, it’s become pretty clear that Washington is a force to be reckoned with.

Coming into this series the one glaring weakness the Wizards had was defending. Could Washington get a clutch stop when they needed to down the stretch? Yes they are playing against the 27th ranked offense in the league, but they’re consistently backing up big time buckets with stops on the other end so far this series.

A lot of this falls on the shoulders of their heart and soul John Wall. If you take out the best player of all-time, Wall is the second best player in the East playoff picture (sorry Giannis) and is playing like a man possessed. Not only is he reeking havoc on both ends of the floor, but he is oozing with swagger and it’s affecting the entire roster.

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This steal, massive hammer, followed by a death stare deep into the soul of Dennis Schroder was a massive turn around for not only his boys, but for the entire crowd. On a team that is so dependant on their starting five, the other four feed off of Wall’s constant energy and tenacity.

They need John Wall to be backing up on defense throwing up expressive signs and yelling to himself after a nasty crossover pull-up jumper. It’s honestly worth more than two points when he plays with that emotion.

In Game 1, Wall dropped a stat line of 32 points, five rebounds and 14 assists while shooting 50 percent from the field (12-24), 50 percent from three (2-4) and going 6-6 from the free throw line. He was spraying dimes to every one of his teammates, and five of them found themselves scoring in double-figures (Porter 10, Morris 21, Gortat 14, Beal 22, Oubre Jr 11).

Game 2 followed a similar pattern of John Wall going off. He dropped 32 again to go along with five boards and nine assists. He made a living at the free throw line after what was a very tightly called game (12-15), and didn’t miss a three (2-2). Down the stretch, Washington was making crucial stops on the defensive end, and when they needed a bucket, the entire D.C. area knew who to give the ball to.

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A big chunk of their Game 2 success was credited to their new and improved bench. Although Brandon Jennings had a stretch where he couldn’t guard a parking meter, he brought out his microwave badge and had 10 quick points in a span of 10 minutes in the third quarter.

The pros outweighed the cons with Jennings, who was plus-3 on the night. Bojan Bogdanovic recorded six points and six boards but kept the young athletic wings on Atlanta from getting easy buckets in transition in his 22 minutes.

The big X-factor from the bench, however, was Jason Smith. Yes, Jason Smith. He played almost 28 minutes, and when Gortat got in foul trouble, he was Mr. Reliable. He put up eight points and eight boards while playing his tail off on the defensive end, protecting the rim.

With the Washington Wizards leading 2-0, the series now shifts to Atlanta for Game 3. Before this series started, many thought this series was going to be a crap shoot. Maybe the Hawks defense would be too much for the Wizards, or maybe Washington couldn’t get enough stops to hold Atlanta in big situations.

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A couple of things to watch for defensively for Washington is Dennis Schroder. He’s already shown that it’s close to impossible for one defender to try to stay in front of him. Defensive rotations have to be a key focus for the Wizard’s in not only forcing Schroder from penetrating easily, but then stopping him from making plays once he gets in the lane.

Millsap has benefited greatly from Schroder’s playmaking in the first two games. In Game 2, Millsap finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds, mainly coming from dump down buckets off Schroder assists.

Rotating defenders, specifically on the baseline with Morris, Gortat and even Jason Smith, will be something to watch for in Game 3.

Overall, I still believe Atlanta wins at least one game in this series, but John Wall has proven to be a problem. When he is able to get out in transition and have Bradley Beal (40% 3PT) and Otto Porter (43% 3PT) spotting up at the three-point line, it’s a distant cousin of Houston’s pick your poison offense.

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It has left Atlanta looking like a deer in headlights in these first two games, and I don’t see that changing even as the series shifts to Atlanta. Washington has too many weapons at their disposal for anything juicy to happen in round one. See you in round 2.