Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET the Washington Wizards will look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead against the No. 1 seed Atlanta Hawks while on the road. Watch the game on TNT or live stream it free by clicking this link. Hawks fans can listen to the radio broadcast on Sports 92.9 Atlanta, while the Wizards fans may do the same on WFED-AM 1500.
The Wizards looked rough in the first half of Game 1, and Atlanta looked like they had learned to cope with their myriad injuries. Then the second half hit, and Washington was rolling. Wizards guard Bradley Beal said that was evidence of the Wizards' new postseason mentality of expecting to win, rather than being thankful to be on the court.
"Last year we were just happy to be in the playoffs, just happy we moved on. We didn't have many goals after the first round," Beal said. "This year, we expect more from ourselves. We're really focused on what we need to continue to do to move forward."
Beal in particular shredded the Hawks for 28 points and seven rebounds while shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc. When the Wizards play a small lineup featuring Paul Pierce at power forward, the Wizards become incredibly difficult to defend. Lanes open up for John Wall, and Beal was in good positions to make shots.
On Atlanta's end, they received a poor shooting performance from Kyle Korver; he was 3-of-11 from beyond the arc, something that's unlikely to happen twice. Atlanta's big men did well against Washington's smaller unit with Al Horford and Paul Millsap combining to pull down 29 rebounds.
Perhaps Atlanta took the Wizards lightly. Millsap said execution will solve their problems, and there's no need to panic.
"Mistakes everywhere," Millsap said. "Against a team like this in the second round of the playoffs, you've got to be at it for 48 minutes."
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