Hawks Win Game Four on the Road Vs. Wizards

YES! The Atlanta Hawks took care of business on their trip to Washington by taking back home court advantage with a 106-101 victory in Game Four over the Wizards. Whatever Coach Mike Budenholzer diagnosed in the fiery film session yesterday after practice certainly paid off with the Hawks winning tonight.

Atlanta played inspired basketball all evening, attacking the paint on most offensive possessions. Defensively the Hawks rattled Marcin Gortat all night long as he had more fouls than field goals. Paul Millsap was healthy tonight and played extremely well on both ends of the floor despite being in foul trouble most of the game. His up-and-under reverse and-one was simply sensational.

Al Horford played angry tonight and made most of his mid-range set shots. While Nene still played great down low for Washington, I attribute much of Gortat’s ineffectiveness to Horford’s low post defense. When Millsap got into foul trouble, Al had to cover Paul Pierce out on the perimeter and did well on that assignment, too. Atlanta is such a better team when Al Horford firing on all cylinders. This was a must game for the Hawks and The Boss delivered for Atlanta.

The Atlanta Hawks point guard duo of Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroder set the tone for the Hawks on offense. Both primary ball handlers relentlessly went after the basket and got to the free throw line many times. But I think more than anything, Teague and Schroder played with poise and high on-court awareness.

One play from Teague immediately comes to mind. Jeff had his shot blocked twice in the paint when going up against an expiring shot clock. Rather than moping back in transition, he intercepted a lazy Wizards’ pass on the rebound and continued to attack the basket. That’s the type of heads-up play that winners make . Jeff Teague was excellent as the Hawks floor general tonight.