ANALYSIS/OPINION
When your team hasn’t hosted a first-round playoff series in 38 years, whatever happens is bound to feel strange. It could administer a blowout, be on the receiving end or fall somewhere in between. Reasonable expectations are fluid and possible outcomes are all over the board.
We’re still wrapping our heads around the fact that Washington is a bona fide contender. So, it wasn’t far-fetched to believe they might fall flat Sunday afternoon against Atlanta. The way history works in these parts, optimism is a rare commodity and typically goes unrewarded.
Would we get the Wizards team that won 43 games since Dec.