As the 2017 NBA Playoffs loom, the Washington Wizards will be taking on the Atlanta Hawks in an intriguing first round match-up. Both teams have high hopes of a prolonged playoff run.
Season Series: Wizards 3-1
The Washington Wizards beat the Atlanta Hawks three out of the four times they played this year. Two of the games were decided very closely, with the others being big blowouts.
Wizards Projected Starters:
Point Guard: John Wall
Shooting Guard: Bradley Beal
Small Forward: Otto Porter Jr.
Power Forward: Markieff Morris
Center: Marcin Gortat
Hawks Projected Starters:
Point Guard: Dennis Schroder
Shooting Guard: Tim Hardaway Jr.
Small Forward: Thabo Sefolosha
Power Forward: Paul Millsap
Center: Dwight Howard
Previous Playoffs:
The last time these two teams faced off was in the 2015 playoffs where the Hawks beat the Wizards 4-2 in that series.
Biggest Advantage for Wizards
Backcourt
The Washington Wizards’ back-court is one of the best in the NBA. With a top five point guard and one of the better shooting guards in the East, they have the advantage in this match-up.
Dennis Schroder is still a great point guard, but is still a few years away from rivaling with John Wall, Isaiah Thomas and Kyrie Irving in the East. Both Beal and Wall had career years in Washington with both averaging over 23 points per game and Wall averaging 10.7 assists per game.
Most of this success can be due to Scott Brooks; ever since he arrived the Wizards have been looking up as a team.
Biggest Advantage for Hawks
Frontcourt
The Atlanta Hawks have a better front-court so it evens out. Dwight Howard and Paul Millsap make a great tandem down low. Even though Howard has been on a decline for a few years, he has improved his rebounding and field goal percentage this year in Atlanta.
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Millsap also had a career year with points, averaging over 18 points per game. If both Millsap and Howard can give you 40 points combined each night, they should stand a good chance in any game they play.
Key Matchup
Dennis Schroder vs John Wall
This will be one of the more intriguing match-ups of all the first round games. Having one of the better point guards in the game go up against one of the up and coming ones will be exciting to watch.
In their four games this year, both guys were pretty neck and neck point wise except their third match-up where Schroder scored only 9 points.
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I predict that these two will be pretty even points wise but Wall will excel in defense and passing. But, if Schroder can prove he can bang with the Wall, it should show that he is ready for the big stage.
Series specifics and predictions:
Game 1
Date: Sunday, April 16th
Time: 1pm EST
Location: Verizon Center
Watch: TNT
Line: Washington -5
Game 2
Date: Wednesday, April 19th
Time: 7pm EST
Location: Verizon Center
Watch: NBATV
Game 3
Date: Saturday, April 22nd
Time: 5:30pm EST
Location: Philips Arena
Watch: TNT
Game 4
Date: Monday, April 24th
Time: 8pm EST
Location: Philips Arena
Watch: TNT
Game 5
Date: Wednesday, April 26th
Time: TBD
Location: Verizon Center
Watch: TBD
Game 6
Date: Friday, April 28th
Time: TBD
Location: Philips Arena
Watch: TBD
Game 7
Date: Sunday, April 30th
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Time: TBD
Location: Verizon Center
Watch: TBD
Prediction:
I think that the Wizards win this series but it will be close. Both teams can compete with any team on any given night. Ultimately, I think Wall and Beal will be too much for the Hawks to handle.
I predict the Wizards will win a Game 7 at home. Although it was a minor injury, Wall did miss a few games towards the end of the season with a sore quad. By the time this series starts, he will have over a weeks rest. I don’t think it will effect him much but a slight aggravation could cause him to play less minutes for the first game or two.