Hawks Close Out Wizards 94-91, Next: Eastern Finals!

The Hawks slide into the Eastern Conference Finals by closing out the Washington Wizards in what can be called a photo finish, winning 94-91 in Game 6. Coach Budenholzer leads Atlanta to their first ever Eastern Conference Finals appearance.

The opening period kicked off with both teams struggling to find their way. The Hawks looked to have a little control early on as they were up by as many as 8 points the game. The Wizards were able to claw back into the game with a 13-4 run that ended the quarter and had them up 20-19 to close the session.

Both teams had trouble shooting the ball in the opening period. Atlanta shot 32% from the field while Washington did not fare better, only mustering a 36% shooting effort. The Hawks also shot an uncharacteristic 1 for 6 from three-point range.

The 2^nd quarter the Hawks shot the ball slightly better from the field as they shot around the 50% mark during the session. Powered by Paul Millsap’s 13 first half points Atlanta was able to going into the intermission with a 45-39 lead. Washington experienced familiar shooting woes that followed them from the opening period.

After halftime the Hawks seemed to have the game under control despite the Wizards never really going away. Both clubs had solid offensive 3^rd quarter out puts with Washington being powered by the guard play of John Wall and Bradley Beal. Atlanta on the other hand leaned on forwards DeMarre Carroll and Paul Millsap.

The Hawks looked like they were going to hold things together into the 4^th quarter as they got up by as many as 15 points in the final session. The Wizards would not be denied as they kept clawing and used a timely 9-0 run to close the gap and after a Beal three pointer, even took the lead late in the game. That was the first lead for Coach Wittman’s team since the 3:39 mark of the 2^nd quarter.

More from Atlanta Hawks

• Atlanta Hawks Sweep Back-to-Back Games Over Weekend
• Atlanta Hawks Look to Continue Momentum Tonight Against Portland
• Joel Embiid Leads Sixers Over Hawks On Monday Night
• Atlanta Hawks: John Collins Playing His Best Basketball Of Season
• Atlanta Hawks Win Second Straight Against the Dallas Mavericks

The Hawks did not get rattled as the game came down to the final minute. Washington missed 3 crucial free throws late in the game as Atlanta had its own 6-1 run to go up by 4 points with 30 seconds left in the game. The home team still had a shot after Al Horford split a pair free throws with 6.4 seconds left in the game. Washington appeared to have hit the final dagger to send the game into overtime but Paul Pierce did not get he shot off in time as the ball was still in his hand as the clock hit 0.0 giving our Hawks the 3 point win and the series.

Our team was able to overcome very bad night from Kyle Korver who only 1 for 8 shooting tonight and horrible 0 for 7 from three-point range. The team was led DeMarre’s 25 points as Millsap and Jeff Teague poured in 20 points in the winning effort.

The Wizards were paced by their backcourt combo of Beal and Wall who had 29 and 20 points respectively. Wall also provided Washington with 13 assists but forced was into coughing up 6 of the team’s 11 turnovers. The Hawks made sure they worked for all their shots as the Wizards were only able to hit 36% of their shots and were only 4 for 18 from behind the arc.

The Hawks now return home to Atlanta to face Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, whom we were able to beat 3 out of 4 times during the regular season. Stay tuned to ATL All Day for game 1 information.