Down one with eight seconds left, the Atlanta Hawks historic season was in jeopardy. The sold out, 18,000-plus person crowd just had the wind knocked out of it by yet another Paul Pierce 3-pointer.
The Eastern Conference Finals were tied 2-2, and historically, the winner of Game 5 of a 2-2 series wins the series 75 percent of the time.
The Washington Wizard’s all-star point guard, John Wall’s, playing status was uncertain 30 minutes before tipoff.
As a Hawks employee began to write the probable starters, everybody in the room began to crowd the board and whipped out their phone cameras as though a celebrity was spotted walking down Asbury Circle. As he was about to post the fifth starter on the board, he took a quick pause, knowing he didn't have the answer to the question everyone in the room had:
This non-answer meant that more likely than not, Wall was starting (Sorry Brady) pending any last minute changes with his health.
My speculation was confirmed mere minutes before tipoff when reports surfaced that Wall was indeed starting. After the game, Wall said he “Kind of knew the day before” that he would be playing game five.
The defensive intensity on both ends was evident from the opening tip forcing three turnovers on the first four possessions of the game. Defensive adjustments for both teams made good shots a lot harder to come by. The Wizards shot 39.2 percent from the field in the first half. The Hawks were only marginally better, shooting 40 percent from the field.
Despite the strong Hawks defense, Wall looked good in the second half. He silenced doubts about his health, attacking the basket with both hands. Leading his team to a 47-41 halftime lead, Wall finished the first half with 11 points and four assists while going 5-7 from the field.
The third quarter started much like the first. The Hawks turned the ball over on five of their first six possessions, and the Wizards turned three of their first four. This sloppy play continued throughout the rest of the third with 17 combined turnovers in the quarter. Despite their eight turnovers, the Hawks held a one point lead going into the fourth.
The fourth quarters in this series have tended to feature crazy runs by both teams, and this game’s fourth quarter was no different.
The Hawks went on a severe drought to start the fourth, scoring only one point in the first 6 and a half minutes. Entering a timeout down nine with 5:31 remaining, the Hawks franchise record 60 win season was at a fork in the road.
The Hawks crowd sensed the urgent moment and stood up from their seats. They remained on their feet for the rest of the game.
“That was big, that was huge. The fans they came up big tonight. We were down nine and the fans keep cheering and gave us the motivation to keep going,” Hawks small forward DeMarre Carroll said after the game.
Behind the crowd that Hawks’ Al Horford kept describing as “electric,” the Hawks responded. After Horford hit two free throws after a timeout, shooting guard Kyle Kover and Horford hit back to back three-pointers to cut the Wizards lead to one.
Multiple Wizard timeouts couldn’t stop what ended up being a 14-0 run for the Hawks, giving them a five-point lead with 2:29 on the clock.
Premature celebrations in the crowd were muzzled when Wizards’ Paul Pierce hit a wide-open three-pointer coming out of a timeout, and fully muted when Marcin Gortat tied the game at 78.
The roller coaster of a finish continued a 21-foot jumper from Horford, and Pierce turning the ball over for an easy Hawks layup that put them up by two with 14 seconds left.
As Piece rose up for an open corner three-pointer, there was no doubt remaining. The storylines were already writing themselves. Piece shoots down the Hawks again.
The play design was simple: get the Hawks’ backup point guard Dennis Schroder attacking the paint and have everybody crash the boards. Schroder got to the paint, but was blocked. Coming in from well outside the paint, Horford grabbed the rebound and hit a putback layup to give the Hawks a one-point lead with under two seconds left.
“It was a lucky bounce and a hell of a play by Al,” Hawks’ Head Coach Mike Budenholzer said.
Without any timeouts left, the Wizards desperation heave missed and the entire arena went bananas.
“We couldn’t get the post game interviews going because the people were so crazy,” Horford said. “Now that’s special.”
What was even more special was the Hawks unselfishness. Schroder guided the offence back starting at the 5:31 mark while starting point guard Jeff Teague road the bench. It remained this way for the rest of the game, but it wasn’t all Budenholzer’s decision.
“We had [Teague] at the table to go back in . . . Jeff took over coaching and said leave [Schroder] in. It’s a great teammate to not only encourage Dennis [Schroder], but to encourage me to let him finish, ” Budenholzer said.
This sort of selflessness is unheard of in the NBA, but it is symbolic of the team effort that gave the Hawks control of the series. It is very rare to shoot 41 percent from the field, 22.7 percent from the three and turn the ball over 23 times while taking the win. But then again, nothing about this Hawks season has been normal.
Less than 48 Hours later, the series resumed in Washington D.C. The Hawks lead for the entire second half until the 3:49 mark in the fourth quarter when Bradley Beal hit a 12-foot jumper to take a 1 point lead.
Beal and Wall carried the Wizard’s offence scored 29 and 20 points respectively. Wall, who looked healthy and confident, added 13 assists in 44 minutes of action.
Jeff Teague returned to his role as the point guard, leading the Hawks down the stretch in Game 6. With the Game tied at 89 and under a minute to go, Teague attacked the lane off a high screen from Horford and found Carroll for easy lay-ups on back-to-back possessions.
With 6.4 seconds on the clock, the Hawks found themselves up three. Despite the Hawks’ smothering defense, Paul Pierce hit a three-pointer while falling out of bounds to tie the game. The Hawks stood stunned, thinking that Pierce had pulled off another miraculous shot at the buzzer in the Verizon Center.
However, when the play was reviewed, the ball was still on Pierce’s fingertips as the game clock expired, sending the Hawks to their first Conference Finals in franchise history.
The Hawks were by no means dominant in Games 5 and 6. However, both victories epitomized the nature of the Hawk’s superstar-less team. You could argue a different player was the most valuable to the team in each of their four victories of the series. The next series has a perfectly scripted juxtaposition with the Hawks facing LeBron James, the biggest star in the league and his Cleveland Cavaliers.
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