In the closing seconds of Game 5, the Washington Wizards had the lead and difficult decisions to make. Although the results likely won't appear in a highlight reel any time soon, Washington won the most pivotal game of the series Wednesday night at Verizon Center.
The 103-99 victory gave the Wizards a 3-2 series lead, pushing the Atlanta Hawks to the brink in the best-of-seven first-round playoff matchup. Bradley Beal led the team with 27 points on 11-of-22 shooting, yet clean looks for him were rare in the late moments. With the Wizards ahead by two, John Wall (20 points, 14 assists) made a jumper with 47 seconds remaining, the last points for either team.
When Atlanta's Tim Hardaway Jr.'s 3-pointer went awry in the final seconds, red, white and blue streamers fell from the rafters.
Through the first four games of the series, Wall and Beal continued their strong production of the regular season. Wall entered Game 5 averaging 28.8 points and Beal 24.3. But beyond the guards, no other Wizard had averaged more than 10.5 points (the foul-saddled Markieff Morris).
"Sometimes, the pressure of the playoffs can be more than it is. It's still basketball," Wizards Coach Scott Brooks said. "You have to just focus on doing the things that brought you here and that you've done all season long for our team and nothing more."
If the Wizards intend to survive beyond this series, their scoring twosome would at least need to expand to a trio. The auditions had not gone well before Wednesday.
Since Game 1, Morris has spent as much time on the sideline in foul trouble as he has making an impact on the court. Morris dodged fouls early in Game 5, but the whistle haunted him after the first quarter. After scoring six points in the first quarter, Morris made just one more shot as he drew five fouls in 20 total minutes.
Another third-scorer candidate, starting center Marcin Gortat, has not found an offensive rhythm. The Wizards won't dare to force pocket passes to him on screen-and-roll plays and neither can they possibly depend on him to post up the chiseled Dwight Howard. While Gortat finally attempted his first free throws of the series, he did not make score from the floor until five minutes remained in the game.
That left Otto Porter Jr. The problem: He has looked like a shell of the player who had spent the majority of the season as the NBA's highest percentage 3-point shooter.
In the series, Porter had attempted only 11 shots from the 3-point arc, one fewer than Morris, and shot a .433 from the floor. His breakout was coming, Brooks predicted ahead of Monday's Game 4, but the Wizards had to wait until the start of the second half on Wednesday for the old Porter to show up.
As he did during the regular season, Porter spaced the floor. When he made himself as a target around the perimeter, Wall sent passes his way and Porter splashed a pair of deep shots to open the third quarter. He finished with 10 points in the period, though that didn't stop the others from trying to create even more offensive balance.
Brandon Jennings started the fourth quarter and provided an instant boost while matched up against his series nemesis Jose Calderon. Jennings had already collected a steal against Calderon and scored against him, but cemented the one-on-one battle by losing Calderon with a behind-the-back crossover dribble then penetrating to find Bojan Bogdanovic for the reverse layup.
With Porter contributing 17 points and Bogdanovic's steady influence as the second unit scorer with 14, the Wizards finally showed depth in this round.