It hasn't been pretty for the Atlanta Hawks this postseason. Yet, after eliminating the Washington Wizards with an nail-biting 94-91 Game 6 road victory and making the team's first conference final since 1970, pretty doesn't matter to the Hawks.
Slogging through a first half littered with missed shots for both teams, the Hawks used lockdown defense all over the half court and a balanced attack (when it worked) to spot themselves a 45-39 lead.
Both offenses woke up in the third quarter, but the Hawks used an effective inside/outside attack spearheaded by Paul Millsap, DeMarre Carroll and Jeff Teague to extend the advantage to eight after three, 72-64.
After the Hawks pushed the advantage to 15 in the early stages of the fourth, the Wizards caught absolute fire with the help of a Bradley Beal heat check. Beal scored 13 points in the final frame, pulling the Wizards ahead by one with four minutes left thanks to pure will and aggressive drives towards the iron.
A Paul Millsap 16-footer and a DeMarre Carroll lay-in off a brilliant Jeff Teague assist, however, stemmed the Wizards' tide and gave the Hawks a two-point lead, 91-89, with under a minute left.
Another Teague-to-Carroll connection off a gorgeous no-look pass by Teague would push the Hawks' lead to two possessions, but Washington fought back late to gain possession down three.
From there, it looked like Paul Pierce had rained on the Hawks' parade with another buzzer beater, this one to tie the game...
But the ball was in his hands on further review for a split second too long, crushing the Wizards' hopes and giving the game and the series to the Hawks.
Atlanta moves on to face the Cleveland Cavs next week while the Wizards remain home for the summer and think about what could have been.
Key Number: 36 of 84
On a night where shooting was at a premium early on, it was the Hawks who weathered through their initial cold spell the best, finishing at a decent 42.9% from the field (36 of 84). Aside from stretches of solid play, the Wizards (36.6%) couldn't match up in their fight for their playoff lives.
Atlanta MVPs:
It's a four-way tie between DeMarre Carroll, Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap and Al Horford. They combined for 78 of the team's 94 points, making up for Kyle Korver and the supporting cast's disappearing act in a HUGE way.
Washington MVP:
Bradley Beal took his game to the next level this postseason, finishing off a more-than-admirable run with a team-high 29 points. He was the main constant for Washington in these playoffs and his huge fourth quarter is something to be celebrated, loss or not.
What's Next?
The Atlanta Hawks host the Cleveland Cavs next Wednesday for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Tipoff is slated for just after 8:30pm EST.
The Wizards end their season in bittersweet fashion, two wins short of their first conference final since 1979.
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