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Round 2, Game 5
Wizards @ Hawks
5/14/2015 8:00PM EST (TNT/99.1 FM)

Let's get pumped for game 5 of the tightly contested Round 2 series between YOUR Washington Bullets and the Atlanta Hawks! It's all tied up at 2 games apiece as the teams travel back to Atlanta for Wednesday night's match up.

After suffering 5 fractures in his left hand and wrist, John Wall returned to Game 1 to lead his team to a convincing victory. Sidelined for the past 3 games, during which the Wizards posted a 1-2 record, he's a wild card for the remainder of the playoffs. The fan base is split to some degree between wishing John a timely return to chase the ECF vs. calling for him to sit out until the injury is fully healed, likely for the remainder of the series.

Starting PG or Best Dressed Wizard on Wenesday? John Wall



Ever since John Wall's injury, Ramon Sessions has been forced into a spotlight role. He's responded as well as anyone could expect, scoring frequently on aggressive drives and dishing out a respectable number of assists. Despite his sometimes porous defense against Atlanta's quick guards, Ramon's contributions in John's absence has helped keep each game competitive. His play over the entire NBA postseason has quieted any disagreement over whether the mid season deal that brought him to Washington was a win for the Wizards.

Starting PG Ramon Sessions



In perhaps his best NBA game ever, Bradley Beal scored 34 points on 58.7 TS%, dropped 7 dimes, snagged 6 rebounds, nabbed 3 steals, and blocked a shot in Monday's close Game 4 loss. Shouldering a heavier offensive load, Beal will need to continue to be an efficient volume scorer for Washington to be successful in the remainder of the series. On the defensive side of the ball, Bradley has successfully hounded Kyle Korver in the previous 4 games, holding Atlanta's sharpshooter to a limited number of mostly contested shots.

Starting SG Bradley Beal



With his compelling trash talk, amply supported by on-court heroics, Paul Pierce has been a force in the 2015 NBA playoffs. He's the ever-present storyline, dropping 54.5% of his playoff 3 pt attempts while willing the team to victory. Despite missing a game-tying 3 late in Game 4, don't expect Paul Pierce to be shy about taking the next big shot. The Raptor hunter wants to return to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Starting SF Paul Pierce



Struggling during these playoffs, Nene has been a question mark in every game. He's shown a few signs of life in the past two games. The short-handed Wizards squad will need Nene to use his physicality and offensive talents to make a more consistent showing in the next 2-3 matches.

Starting PF Nene



Marcin Gorat's stellar playoff performance this year took a turn for the worse on Monday night in DC. Picking up untimely loose ball fouls and clearly missing the bunny baskets fed to him by John Wall, the Polish Machine will look to bounce back on Wednesday.

Starting C Marcin Gortat



A pleasant post season surprise, Otto Porter's all-around play has been a key driver for the Wizards' playoff success. With bothersome length and natural basketball instincts, Otto has been effective on both sides of the quart.

6th man SF Otto Porter



Modernizing Washington's offense during key stretches, Drew Gooden has spaced the floor and helped contribute to a stunning reversal in the team's offensive efficiency when compared to its pedestrian regular season performance. Defensively, he's got a tough match up against Atlanta's quick, skilled big men.

Bench stretch-4 Drew Gooden



Expect to see significant minutes from PG Will Bynum. Spot playing time may open up for SG Garrett Temple, PF Kevin Seraphin.

Randy "Playoff" Wittman may dig a bit deeper into his bench in Game 5. His team's strong playoff run has silenced the majority of the calls for his job.

Head Coach Randy Wittman



Barring any injuries or illnesses leading to a line up change, Atlanta is expected to start Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Demarre Carroll, Paul Millsap, and Al Horford.

Artwork credit to new Wizards fan Jenny Pearl.

GOAT game thread

Those drawings are awesome.

Well, game 4 loss was certainly disappointing. A pessimism has begun to seep in me. I realize myself trying to tamper my expectations for Wiz to do well.

But at the same time, with or without John Wall, we probably should cherish each moment while we're still in contention. It has been a long while since I got this excited about Wizards playoffs success. Who knows when is next time we advance this far into the playoffs?

IIRC, in the middle of the Raptors series, Witt gave a pregame speech on something to the extent of "enjoy each moment since you never know this might be the last time you're in the playoffs," which made Beal teared up some. First time I read it I thought it was too weak and pathetic. But now I think Witt was touching on something deep.

During the regular season I was a frequent proponent of #fireWittman. But I don't care now if he will be with us next season or not. I just wanna see the Wiz win in game 5 in whatever fashion possible. And beat crap out of the Hawks in game 6 or 7, if necessary. I'm not ready to surrender our season just yet!

Go Wizards! #DCrising, #noHawks!

diaboliQ_Mo wrote:Well, game 4 loss was certainly disappointing. A pessimism has begun to seep in me. I realize myself trying to tamper my expectations for Wiz to do well.

But at the same time, with or without John Wall, we probably should cherish each moment while we're still in contention. It has been a long while since I got this excited about Wizards playoffs success. Who knows when is next time we advance this far into the playoffs?

IIRC, in the middle of the Raptors series, Witt gave a pregame speech on something to the extent of "enjoy each moment since you never know this might be the last time you're in the playoffs," which made Beal teared up some. First time I read it I thought it was too weak and pathetic. But now I think Witt was touching on something deep.

During the regular season I was a frequent proponent of #fireWittman. But I don't care now if he will be with us next season or not. I just wanna see the Wiz win in game 5 in whatever fashion possible. And beat crap out of the Hawks in game 6 or 7, if necessary. I'm not ready to surrender our season just yet!

Go Wizards! #DCrising, #noHawks!

+1

Good post.

**** Atlana, the Hawks are going down.

What is Carroll's status for tonight?

Nice game thread, dude!

All logic points to us losing this game but all logic pointed to us being handled in the first round by Toronto (who we didn't beat in the regular season), then being dominated by Atlanta (who we only beat once in the regular season when they rested their starters). When we won game 1 against them and found out Wall was done, we were supposed to be crushed by them but have managed to steal a game and be competitive in the other two.

Throw logic out the window. We're a mentally tough road team and we're not backing down. GO WIZ.

I was not feeling confident going into Game 4 for lots of reasons.

No Wall. ATLs late run in game 3. Milsap returning from being sick. All the talk of focusing on Nene after he got his first FG in game 3. It was a set up for failure from all the signs I could read.

I feel better entering this game.

Wizards defense picked up the 2nd half of Game 4. More talk of getting Gortat going. Otto had an off game he should rebound. On the road. Back in the underdog role. Hostile environment. No one expects them to win. That's when they seem to take it to another level.

And Wall's possible return.

Series started good. They won home court back.
Then the bad news regarding Wall but I never thought it was over.
Lost Game 2 which they could have won but that was the first game without Wall.
Game 3 was a rush. Pretty much a Wiz blow out that Randy blow with down the stretch line up but Truth pulled it out.
Game 4 was pretty much all ATL except this time the Wizards made the come back. An open Truth 3 with 7 sec from tying it up.

So Game 5. I like their chances to win back home court and if they do, they come back home to close this out.

HUGE HUGE GAME FOR ALL THE MARBLES.

And because of that, if Wall can go, I expect him in uniform. Even if he is just used for 20 min off the bench.

miller31time wrote:Nice game thread, dude!

All logic points to us losing this game but all logic pointed to us being handled in the first round by Toronto (who we didn't beat in the regular season), then being dominated by Atlanta (who we only beat once in the regular season when they rested their starters). When we won game 1 against them and found out Wall was done, we were supposed to be crushed by them but have managed to steal a game and be competitive in the other two.

Throw logic out the window. We're a mentally tough road team and we're not backing down. GO WIZ.

Not all logic ? Maybe conventional or popular logic is more accurate.

My logic had us sweeping TOR which we did.
My logic also had us winning this series in 5 or less..(with Wall).. which it looks like they could have done.

Its a real shame Wall got injured like that. It make predicting what can happen moving forward a lot tougher.

Really looking forward to hearing what the doctors say one way or another.

All we know right now is... swelling down and he dribbled and shot yesterday. If I was to take a wild ass guess, 15-20 mins of Wall just to run the offense and pass it around is what they are shooting for and what would help. If they can get that, I like their chances to win this a lot more. And if he can play, he will start.

But even if they don't get that, I wouldn't count them out of it. But clearly they would need lots of others to pick it up. They need to play a totally different style them last game. More team offense. They need to get everyone involved early. That is Walls game so if he isn't playing, that is the clear challenge for the team.

closg00 wrote:What is Carroll's status for tonight?

Coach Bud says he's good to go

Hawks are 8 point favorites

Officials for tonight's Hawks-Wizards Game 5 are: Mike Callahan,Tony Brothers, CJ Washington and alternate Brian Forte.

FAH1223 wrote:

closg00 wrote:What is Carroll's status for tonight?

Coach Bud says he's good to go

Damn

Great game thread and amazing pictures! If the Wizards want to win this series then they probably need to win in 6. Tonight's game is major and I hope Wall plays if his hand is doing better. If not, I don't want to risk his long term health just for a shot at the Eastern Finals. Series can be won without Wall if the rest of the team steps up.

TheKingOfVa360 wrote:Great game thread and amazing pictures! If the Wizards want to win this series then they probably need to win in 6. Tonight's game is major and I hope Wall plays if his hand is doing better. If not, I don't want to risk his long term health just for a shot at the Eastern Finals. Series can be won without Wall if the rest of the team steps up.

I agree with you. I think winning this series in six games is critical because I don't see the Zards going into ATL, with or without Wall, and winning a 7th game. They could. But I doubt it. So winning tonight's game is crucial.

I agree with you even more about Wall. I'd much rather lose this series than risk Wall's long-term health. I assume the Zards coaches, FO and ownership are on that same page.

Take us home BenB, awesome OP.

Sweet pictures

I ain't afraid of playing in Atlanta. If Wall plays I think we win, even if his hand may not be 100%. If he doesn't, I think it's a close game that could go either way.

Just can't have as many mistakes as we did the other night, and can't have Gortat putting up another goose egg.

Is a hobbled John better than Sessions/Bynum? Probably, but he could also hurt us with TO's and bad shots trying to play with that hand.

Holy ****, I want that Pierce picture framed in my room. That's a great art style.


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Wizards AND Caps game 7 in MSG simultaneously.

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