Wizards eliminate Hawks from NBA playoffs with Game 6 road win
The Washington Wizards broke the pattern.
The first team to win a road game in the Atlanta-Washington series, the Wizards beat the Hawks 115-99 in Game 6 on Friday, eliminating the Hawks with a 4-2 series victory.
In Coach Scott Brooks’ first season with the franchise, Washington advances to the conference semifinals where they will face the Boston Celtics, who ousted the Chicago Bulls in six games on Friday night. It's the third time in the last four years the Wizards have reached the conference semis.
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"I'm a much better player than what I was two years ago," John Wall said on the broadcast. He was slowed by a broken hand when the Wizards last made it in 2015.
"We came here with that focus and determination that we wanted to do the same thing those guys did to us two years ago," Wall told reporters. "Me and Brad led the way. We locked in. Our teammates understood what we had (to do). We didn't want to have a Game 7."
The Wizards’ backcourt of Wall and Brad Beal was too much for Atlanta. Wall had 42 points and eight assists while Beal poured in 31 points.
"You could just tell he was locked in," Beal told reporters. "He was ready to go. We just feed off that."
Two sequences highlighted Wall's dominance. With the Hawks chipping away at their lead, Wall went end-to-end to block Dennis Schroder off the glass. He then came down on the other end and sliced his way to hoop.
Washington also received a strong performance from forward Markieff Morris, who battled with Atlanta’s forward Paul Millsap on the court and exchanged words with him through the media. Morris finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.
The Wizards built a 68-46 lead with 11:22 left in the third quarter and held off a Hawks run for the series-clinching victory.
Millsap (31 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists) and Schroder (26 points, 10 assists) were outstanding in the series but needed more help.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
