It’s the Game 6 in the Washington Wizards versus Atlanta Hawks series – one that proves the worth of the home court advantage in the playoffs, at least so far – and the teams will enter it with different mindsets. The Hawks are thinking survive, while the Wizards will look to advance to the next round where the Cleveland Cavaliers already await.
Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks Game 6
LINE: Atlanta -3 (-110); moneyline -155
Total: 210 (-110o, -110u)
The Wizards take a close one at home
If you believe in the old adage that says that the series doesn’t start until one of the teams wins on the road, you might miss the Washington Wizards first round series altogether. Two teams continue to protect their courts as the Wizards have won 103-99 in Game 5. This was far from a convincing win – it fall into the category of ‘only the win matters’ – as both teams failed to show up with their best basketball. The Wizards have opened the game slowly, except for Beal – his shots kept them attached until a nice run led by Wall enable them to take tiny halftime lead.
They came out more ready after the visit to the lockers, jumping out to a 19-9 run with Wall and Porter accounting for 15 points in that stretch. Wall’s 3-pointer gave Washington a 69-58 lead, but Atlanta countered with a run of their own. After opening up a 98-91 lead in the fourth quarter, the Washington Wizards only scored 5 points in the final five minutes of the game and were lucky to see their opponents hit the dry spell at the same time.
Star guards led the way once again for the Washington Wizards. Beal scored 11 points in the first quarter and finished with 27, but hit just 1-of-9 of his shots from beyond the arc. John Wall had 20 points and 14 assists and 4 of the Washington Wizards 6 total turnovers – amazing job on holding onto the possessions. Gortat was absent from the offense, scoring just 5 points of 1-of-6 shooting, but did a stellar job on defense. It was all important for the Washington Wizards as they’ve changed how they play Millsap.
For the first time in the series, they’ve started sending double teams from the baseline to help Morris, but he still spent most of the second half on the bench with foul trouble. Porter stepped in as the small ball was forced, taking some power forward responsibilities. He managed to score 17 points by going to the charity stripe and hitting his free throws. The oft maligned second unit did a fair job this time, led by Bogdanovic’s 14 points. Unfortunately, the Wizard, already short on bigs, lost Jason Smith in the second half with a leg injury. Mahinmi won’t play in the first round, so it’ll be interesting to see how Coach Scott plays during Gortat’s rest.
They were able to counter the Hawks in the paint in wins and failed to do so in the losses, and counting on bad shooting night in and night out won’t cut it, so the Wizards will need to focus and start strong this time in Atlanta if they want to avoid the dreaded Game 7.
Place: Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Date/Time: Friday April 28th, 2017. 7:30 PM ET
TV Coverage: NBATV, FSN
Poor shot selection the reason for a squandered opportunity
Schroder sank all four of his 3-point attempts and scored 16 points in the first half but the Hawks still trailed 50-49 after 24 minutes of action, setting the stage of what was another missed opportunity due to only one player really showing up. The Hawks shot 40.9 percent from the field and just 9-of-31 from the 3-pt range. Also, they went just 14-of-21 from the charity stripe. After dominating the post scoring in the previous two games, the Hawks couldn’t produce the same result again.
Millsap struggled with added pressure and Howard played the role of a cheerleader with second half foul trouble. Backcourt players inexplicably settled for the deep shots and it played a crucial role in their demise. The Hawks also did something strange at the end of Game 5 – they let the clock run down. It would have taken a miracle for them to win in the final 30 seconds, but instead of taking their chances, Atlanta simply did nothing. Somehow, it was a fitting end to a game where the Hawks went away from what they do best and put their fortune into the hands of their backcourt.
Dennis Schroder responded with 29 points and had 11 assists, but Hardaway was terrible. He made just 6-of-18 shots, missed 7 of ten three point tries and both free throws. In 38 minutes, Hardaway had not assists, steals, blocks, turnovers and just one foul and two rebounds. It’s almost impossible to get less involved and shoot each time ball find you. The bench guys weren’t much better either. Bazemore shot 3-of-12 and Ilyasova went 1-of-6, as the Hawks couldn’t buy buckets over long stretches against one of the worst regular season defenses.
Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks Game 6 Trends & Prediction
The Washington Wizards are 44-42-1 ATS this season overall, but are on a three game losing streak against the spread. Road wasn’t kind to their backers and the Wizards gone 19-23-1 and lost both times in Atlanta. Over is money with the Wizards entire season – they are 53-33-1 against the over/under and 27-15 on the road.
The Atlanta Hawks improved to 42-45 ATS record this season after the three covers. But Philips Arena is hardly a stronghold. The Hawks disappointed this season by going 19-24 ATS. Unders are much more frequent on Atlanta games and they pose a 34-50 O/U record. At home, their games end with 8 points higher totals than the away games, so keep that in mind.
We’ve seen enough of the series to be as confident as the bookies in our numbers. They are certainly happy on how the things panned out so far, as the series is very balance both spread and total points wise. The Hawks have been favored by 3 points again, just as in the previous two home games and the total points line is slightly lowered to fit the importance of the game and the previous result.
However, I’m setting it to 214.5 as I’m liking the outlook of the small ball and I believe the Hawks will have much a better day shooting the ball in front of their own fans. The Wizards will likely look to push it, especially after having decent success in transition in the last game, so I’m taking the over. The target I’ve set below shows the odds I’ll be looking to get closer to the game. I’m also going with the away dog here. It still hold enough of the value to pass on, even after they’ve failed to deliver in the last three attempts.
My Pick: Washington +3 (-110) & ml +135
Total: Over 209.5 points (-105)
