The Hawks Must Win Game Two Against The Wizards Tonight
By John Buhler
There are no excuses for the Atlanta Hawks tonight in Game Two of their Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup with division rival Washington Wizards. Atlanta absolutely cannot be down 2-0 entering Saturday evening’s contest in DC. This is a must win game for the Hawks.
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Atlanta, I know we’re still a little heated over the tough loss Sunday afternoon. But we have to have faith in Coach Mike Budenholzer’s ability to get his team playing its best basketball tonight. The team has to attack the paint with authority tonight. Jeff Teague, no more missed layups. Al Horford and Paul Millsap, you’re so much faster than Marcin Gortat and Nene. Use that lateral quickness to your advantage to make the Wizards’ bigs feel uncomfortable all night long.
Defensively keep up the intensity. The stringent commitment to excellence on the defensive end is going to pan out if y’all make smarter decisions with the ball in transition. John Wall is not going to cough up the ball like Deron Williams did in last series as Wall is the second best ball handler in the Eastern Conference behind only Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving.
Where Atlanta can build a lead is with a collective effort to rebound as a team on the defensive glass. Paul Pierce doesn’t have the giddy up he used to and Wall and Bradley Beal were physically dominated by bigger perimeter defenders Kyle Korver and DeMarre Carroll in Game One. Pero Antic, get inside of Gortat’s bald head.
Despite completely running out of gas in the fourth quarter of game one, the Philips Arena crowd was alive and ready to lift the Hawks to victory. But you can’t shoot 5-28 from the field in the fourth and expect to win. I do expect Coach Bud to not let his team play tired in crunch time tonight. Go out there tonight boys and take care of those Wizards. You can rest for four days before Game Three tips off Saturday evening. Let’s Go Hawks!