Eastern Conference Round 1 - Game 1
Wizards 114
Hawks 107
April 16, 2017 - Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
It was one heck of an environment at the Phone Booth, which both Scott Brooks and Bradley Beal noted postgame, before the game as well as during. Washington did not disappoint by jumping out to a quick 18-8 lead, but Atlanta ended the first quarter on a 17-2 run. Despite a slow shooting start for the Wizards, they got their act together at halftime and successfully took care of business in Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs. Washington will be back in action at 7 p.m. on Wednesday with a 1-0 series lead in hand thanks to a 114-107 victory on Easter Sunday.
Quick Hits:
Playoff Markieff Morris is a force that can make Wizards “unstoppable”
In front of his twin brother Marcus - who will also be in attendance for Game 2 for you superstitious fans - Keef Morris put on a show for his team. 21 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal does not look outrageously great, but his impact was undeniable. With 11 third quarter points on 5 of 8 shooting, Morris turned the tide for good for Washington.
Moreover, in his first playoff game of his career, Morris did a fabulous job containing four-time All Star Paul Millsap. Millsap got 9 of his 19 points from the free throw line, but his four turnovers hurt his efficiency. The two exchanged words at the end of the first half and we think that Morris may have successfully gotten into Millsap’s head (read until the end to see what I mean).
Here is what John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Scott Brooks had to say about Morris’ performance.
“Like I said last year when we first got him, I was excited,” Wall said about Morris. “He changed everything right away for us. We didn’t have to go big in the post anymore. If any team had a four-man that could score, we could go right back to him and he can score on their man in the post. He changed our team a whole lot and he understands that. But most importantly he was one of those guys that bought in. he had never been to the playoffs before. He shied away from getting a lot of shots at times, but he’s doing everything to help our team win. When he’s playing as well as he did today for us, we’re unstoppable.”
“It was great,” Beal said. “He accepted the challenge with (Paul) Millsap from the get-go. On offense, he was a beast. We just need him to continue to play like that. He played with tremendous focus and confidence and energy on both ends of the floor, not just offensively. I think he did a great job of guarding Millsap down the stretch and throughout the course of the game. Hats off to him for sure, but we are definitely going to need him to continue to play that way and continue to get better each and every game.”
“I thought he played with force all game long,” head coach Brooks said about his power forward. “I thought he was a big part of our win. He was aggressive setting great screens and our playmakers were finding their open shots. We’ve been telling him the second half of the season [that] he’s not going to get open unless he creates opportunities to get open. I thought he’s been doing that the last couple of games of the season when he played. [Today] he played well [and] made shots.”
Another game, another career-high for John Wall
A playoff career-high 32 points is nice. 14 assists were even nicer. “I get more excited when I get a nice assist than I do scoring,” Wall said after the win. His 14 assists accounted for 30 Washington points, which means he contributed towards 54.4 percent of his team’s 114 points on Sunday afternoon. Wall’s 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting in the third quarter coupled with Morris’ production resulted in an impressive 38-point quarter and Washington did not trail for the final 22 minutes of action.
“John can take over games, he can take over quarters, he can take over plays,” Brooks said. “He’s a tremendous competitor. He plays with toughness and he gets shots – 32 [points] and 14 [assists] – that’s high-level all-star game. Not only is he one of the best players in is position, he’s also one of the best players in the league. I see that every day and I’m happy for him.”
Bradley Beal bounces back
The Panda, as DC has affectionately nicknamed Brad, was an abnormal 3 of 12 to start the game including 1 of 7 from beyond the arc despite good looks. He did not let that affect his ability to produce, though. Beal made 6 of his last 9 shots for 15 second half points. “Just staying with it ... when I did see one go down, just continue to fire them up,” Beal said after the game.
To his credit, Beal was also a major force on the defensive end in shutting down Tim Hardaway Jr. who was 2 of 11 from the field and 0 of 6 from three for just seven points. The max contract shooting guard was impressive two years ago in the playoffs with his defense against DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Korver, which seems to be carrying over to the present.
Marcin Gortat does his job
For all the hate The Polish Hammer gets, he deserves twice as much love when he has a game like he did today. 14 points on 7 of 11 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. More important than finishing at the rim on pretty lobs was his defense on Dwight Howard. His former teammate struggled with just 7 points on 2 of 6 shooting. If Gortat is able to consistently win his matchup against Howard, it will be game, set, and match for Washington.
“He did a great job of keeping Dwight (Howard) out of the paint, keeping him from getting some easy buckets, and from getting a lot of offensive rebounds too,” Beal said. “He knows his role. Without him, man, we wouldn’t get half the shots, half of the possessions we get, we credit him. We did a great job of catching and finishing today, too.”
The tone has been set
Late in the second half, Markieff Morris dove onto Paul Millsap “head first”, which is how Morris is describing his effort on every single play, and forced a jump ball call that was a bit questionable. To end the half, Morris sunk three free throws after getting fouled on a shot attempt from beyond the arc. Afterwards, Millsap and Morris started yapping. The common theme from both sides after the game was that things were simply competitive and not necessarily dirty, but Millsap’s MMA comment was an exception. Washington prides themselves on being a physical team and that will give them an edge the rest of the series if the chippy play continues.