Atlanta Hawks key players stepped up when the team needed them most to tie their Eastern Conference Semifinal series at 2-2 on Tuesday morning, beating the Washington Wizards 106-101.
Hawks All-Star trio of Jeff Teague (26 points), Millsap (19 points, six assists and five rebounds), and Al Horford (18 points and 10 rebounds) came up big, making significant impact to give Atlanta hope for the remainder of the series.
Paul Pierce, who was Hawks villain in Game 3 after hitting a game-winner with a second left, missed a three-pointer with 9.5 seconds remaining as the Wizards tried to tie the contest at 104-104, instead Paul Millsap hit two free-throws to close the game out.
The Hawks stepped on floor on a desperation mood, leading by as many as 14 points, moved the ball incredibly well with 30 assists, prompting coach Mike Budenholzer to was his players “to find a way to do that for more of the 48 minutes.”
“To me, personally, I think this is the best we’ve played all series. Thirty assists, the way we played defense, the way we stepped up, the way we helped each other, the way we moved the basketball, the way we set screens,” Millsap said afterwards.
Bradley Beal finished with a career playoff-high 34 points for the Wizards, who saw All-Star guard John Wall siting out for a third straight game due to a broken left hand.
The Wizards visit Atlanta on Thursday mooring for Game 5 of the best-of-seven series.
In Memphis, MVP Stephen Curry has played the best game of his Western Conference Semifinals campaign, powering the Golden State Warriors when they needed him most to tie the series at 2-2.
Curry finished with a game-high 33 points as the Warriors sealed a comprehensive 101-84 victory at Memphis.
Marc Gasol did everything the Grizzlies needed him to do by scoring a team-high 19 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out six assists, but the game belonged to a desperate Golden State Warriors who led most of the contest, trailing only by two.
Warriors host Memphis in Game 5 on Thursday morning.
