This time, Pierce misses late shot as Wizards fall to Hawks, 106-101
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Version 0 of 1. It took Otto Porter Jr. nearly every one of the five seconds allotted to him, but he found what he was seeking. There was Paul Pierce, the man who calls “Game,” the man who has roused this city in just a few months, the man you want to possess the ball in this exact situation, the final seconds ticking away in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Pierce rolled off Nene’s flattening screen, caught the inbounds pass from Porter just above the three-point line on the right wing and did not find any member of the Atlanta Hawks near him. So two days after banking home a winner and completing the memorable night with a one-liner for the ages, Pierce set his feet and, with 6.9 seconds remaining, launched a wide-open three-pointer to tie a game the Washington Wizards had trailed most of the night. The towel-waving capacity crowd at Verizon Center hushed in anticipation, expecting more heroics, still hopeful that another improbable victory without their best player was in the cards. Instead, the ball bounced off the back of the rim, Porter knocked it out of bounds, and two free throws later, they earned a 106-101 victory Monday night. The result, Washington’s first loss in four home games this postseason, knotted the series at two games apiece. Game 5 will be Wednesday night in Atlanta. “It’s the way it goes sometimes,” said Pierce, who finished with 22 points and went 5 for 7 from beyond the arc. “Sometimes you make them, sometimes you miss.” For nearly 47 minutes, the Hawks had an answer for every Wizards threat. They still did not resemble a No. 1 seed that compiled a franchise-record 60 wins during the regular season, but they were closer against an undermanned Wizards squad that clawed and scratched and fought but could not sustain spurts long enough. It was a dose of the reality now confronting the Wizards. They have been forced to navigate the postseason waters without their all-star, John Wall, the offense’s orchestrator and the defense’s head lost to five fractures in his left hand and wrist, and they encountered the highest tide yet. It was a challenge to muster points for stretches when Bradley Beal and Pierce couldn’t generate magic. When one of the Hawks’ point guards penetrated the defense, a common occurrence, Atlanta points flowed, especially inside in the first half as the Hawks doubled the Wizards’ output in the paint (32 to 16) en route to a 65-point half that offset Washington’s 10 three-pointers. Atlanta’s point guards, Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroder, tormented the Wizards with constant penetration, which generated a deluge of shots at the rim and a ripple effect of open attempts for others. After averaging 12.7 points on 29 percent shooting in the first two games of the series, Teague posted a team-high 26 points and eight assists. Schroder recorded 14 points and eight assists. Paul Millsap returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench in Game 3 because of flu-like symptoms and tallied 19 points, six assists and five rebounds. Al Horford, the other all-star on Atlanta’s front line, had 18 points and 10 rebounds. “The guards broke us down too much,” Washington Coach Randy Wittman said, “and that’s going to be an issue we got to solve.” But the Wizards fixed the woes after halftime, and trailing by seven points with 72 seconds remaining, they mounted one final run. It started with a tenacious drive and layup from Beal for the last of his game-high 34 points. It continued 34 seconds later with a one-handed dunk from Nene. In need of a stop, Beal, who had been hobbling after Nene stepped on his leg just seconds earlier, blocked Schroder’s runner to force a desperation floater that did not touch the rim. Ramon Sessions corralled the rebound, sped up the court and called timeout to set up a play that worked to perfection until it didn’t. The Hawks were not in the clear after Pierce’s miss. Kyle Korver appeared to travel when he slipped and fell catching the inbounds pass, but the call was not made and he passed the ball to Millsap, who was fouled with 0.9 seconds remaining and made both free throws to seal the triumph. “Yeah, but they didn’t call it,” Beal said when asked whether Korver traveled. “Oh, well.” Now the lead dog in Wall’s absence, Beal was a two-way dynamo. He wreaked havoc on the sharpshooting Korver defensively, limiting him to six points on 2-for-4 shooting. At the other end, the 34 points were a playoff career high and he added seven assists and six rebounds. It was Beal’s ninth career playoff game with at least 20 points and his 19th straight with at least 15. “What I saw from Brad,” Pierce said, “is what we’re going to need from Brad every night.” Fresh off his game-winning bank shot in Game 3, Pierce went 8 of 13 from the field and is now a remarkable 30 of 55 from beyond the three-point line this postseason. Production beyond the duo, however, was scant. Will Bynum came in off the bench to net 10 points, his most with the Wizards, while Nene had 12 and Sessions contributed 13. But Marcin Gortat tallied just three points on 0-for-5 shooting. Drew Gooden III and Porter, two reserves who have emerged as crucial pieces in the playoffs, combined for seven points on 2-for-10 shooting. To beat the Hawks two more times and advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 36 years, the Wizards know universal production and consistency is required. But they are not discouraged. They asserted they were subpar Monday night and were still within one clean look of stealing another victory without their best player. “The biggest thing is just the first half, period,” Beal said. “If we played the first half like we played the second half, we win the game.” |