Washington Wizards vs Atlanta Hawks Game 2 Pregame Analysis

" Just withstanding adversity." We know they're going to come out and give us a punch right away." Those were the words of point guard John Wall on the Washington Wizards after surprising the dominant Atlanta Hawks in a 104-98 game 1 win in Atlanta. John Wall was one of the big reasons why they won. He had 18 points and 13 assists. Bradley Beal also tied his career high in points for the playoffs. Last year, the Wizards were a young and inexperienced team which prevented them to get far into the playoffs. This year was a different story after sweeping the Toronto Raptors in the first round and beating the Atlanta Hawks in the first game of the semifinals. The Washington Wizards still remain undefeated in the 2015 playoffs. Atlanta's key players did not play so well in game one. Jeff Teague went 4-14 on shooting and Kyle Korver shot 3-11 on three pointers. But fortunately, Demarre Carroll backed them up with another impressive performance with 24 points. 

              Today's game will be critical for the Hawks. If the Wizards win then they will be two games away from moving on and if the Hawks win, the series will be tied up. Today's game will also be played in Atlanta so the Hawks have another chance at home. Demarre Carroll will need to play another fantastic game like he has done in the past few games. Atlanta's defense will be important too. They can not let John Wall get into the paint that much. If he does get there, there will be so many options that he will have because he is such a talented player. The Hawks will also need Kyle Korver to make his perimeter shots. In game 1, his shots were not that successful. If he can make his shots that would make a big difference. The Hawks will all have to look out for Bradley Beal because he is averaging 22.2 points a game in the playoffs. Al Horford had a very well balanced game in game 1 having 17 points, 17 rebounds, and seven assists.

               For the Wizards they are playing great team basketball right now moving the ball around and getting good shots. For John Wall it's the same thing: he just has to keep taking the ball to the hoop. Nene will have to get going again after being held to no points in game 1. And Marcin Gortat had a pretty efficient game a couple days ago with 12 points so he just has to keep that up. 

               The Hawks look to bounce back in this game to get back into this series and get back to there normal selves again.

                The Hawks will win game 2 107-101. For the Hawks Demarre Carroll will have 23 points and Paul Millsap will have 18 points and the Hawks will take game 2.