Wizards Beat Hawks In NBA Playoffs

By ESPN

Through the first three quarters of Game 2 of the Washington Wizards' opening playoff series, Bradley Beal made only 6 of 18 shots. And that came after shooting just 9 for 21 in Game 1.

Did all of those misses bother him? Not one bit. Instead, he relied on a silly play on words that he says his agent taught him.

"It's something I always tell myself: I don't know what a `miss' is. A `miss' is a `lady," Beal explained with a smile. "Everybody's confident in me. Coach is more than confident in me. So I just rise up and shoot it."

In a rough-and-tumble, foul-filled game, Beal and backcourt mate John Wall took over in the fourth quarter Wednesday night, combining to score 20 of Washington's last 21 points in a 109-101 victory over the Atlanta Hawks that gave the Wizards a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference series.

Beal finished with 31 points, 16 on 6-of-9 shooting in the final period.

"He's a franchise guy, with me, also on this team. We need him to be the scorer for us," Wall said. "We don't care if he shoots the ball 30 times."

Wall earned chants of "M-V-P!" while contributing 32 points and nine assists, including a dish to Beal for his key 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining that sealed the win for the hosts. As soon as Beal let the ball fly, Wall raised both arms in celebration.

"When he shoots it," Wall said of that shot, "it's game over."

Washington, which trailed 78-74 entering the final period, won despite a total of only seven points from starting forwards Markieff Morris and Otto Porter Jr., who were both in foul trouble early.

"It was a tricky game to coach," said Washington's Scott Brooks, who avoided postgame criticism of the officiating, joking that he already knew he would be getting a text message from his daughter about a $2,000 fine he drew for a technical foul.

Game 3 is Saturday at Atlanta.

Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 27 points and 10 rebounds, and Dennis Schroder scored 23 points. But Dwight Howard had only seven rebounds, half his Game 1 total, and six points. Afterward, Howard responded to three consecutive questions from reporters with "I don't know," then replied "No" to one, before going back to "I don't know."

After Washington won the series opener over the weekend, Millsap bemoaned aloud about how things went, saying: "The difference in the game is we were playing basketball and they were playing MMA."

That became a talking point during the off days, and perhaps affected the way Game 2 was called. It was hardly akin to a mixed martial arts bout, but the officials sure seemed determined to use their whistles upon seeing anything resembling a foul.

There were 29 personal fouls in the opening 24 minutes, 55 for the game. In the third quarter, many voices in the sellout crowd of 20,356 joined in full-throated chants of derision directed at the officials.

Wednesday, April 19 Scoreboard

Washington 109, Atlanta 101

Eastern Conference 1st Round -- Game 2

Houston 115, Oklahoma City 111

Western Cofnerence 1st Round -- Game 2

Golden State 110, Portland 81

Western Conference 1st Round -- Game 2

Thursday, April 20 Schedule (All Times Central)

Cleveland at Indiana, 6 p.m.

Eastern Conference 1st Round -- Game 3

Toronto at Milwaukee, 7 p.m.

Eastern Conference 1st Round -- Game 3

San Antonio at Memphis, 8:30 p.m.

Western Conference 1st Round -- Game 3

Friday, April 21 Schedule (All Times Central)

Boston at Chicago, 6 p.m.

Eastern Conference 1st Round -- Game 3

Houston at Oklahoma City, 8:30 p.m.

Western Conference 1st Round -- Game 3

Los Angeles Clippers at Utah, 9 p.m.

Western Conference 1st Round -- Game 3

Saturday, April 22 Schedule (All Times Central)

Toronto at Milwaukee, 2 p.m.

Eastern conference 1st Round --  Game 4

Washington at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m.

Eastern Conference 1st Round -- Game 3

San Antonio at Memphis, 7 p.m.

Western Conference 1st Round -- Game 4

Golden State at Portland, 9:30 p.m.

Western Conference 1st Round -- Game 3

Sunday, April 23 Schedule (All Times Central)

Cleveland at Indiana, noon

Eastern Conference 1st Round --  Game 4

Houston at Oklahoma City, 2:30 p.m.

Western Conference 1st Round --  Game 4

Boston at Chicago, 5:30 p.m.

Eastern Conference 1st Round -- Game 4

Los Angeles Clippers at Utah, 8 p.m.

Western Conference 1st Round -- Game 4