Hawks at Wizards
The Washington Wizards had a chance to finish as high as first in the Eastern Conference but dropped five of eight down the stretch and ended up No. 4 while earning the franchise's first division title since 1978-79. The Wizards will begin their playoff run on Sunday by hosting the team that finished directly behind them in the Southeast Division, the Atlanta Hawks.
Washington had a chance to clinch the franchise's first 50-win season since 1978-79 but instead decided to rest players down the stretch in order to ensure its best players would be healthy and ready to square off against a familiar foe. "Both teams feel very comfortable matched up with each other," Wizards All-Star point guard John Wall told reporters. "They’re a deep team and have a lot of guys they can use. We feel like we’re the same way." The Hawks were in danger of dropping out of the top eight completely while bridging March and April with a stretch of nine losses in 11 games, but the return of All-Star power forward Paul Millsap helped the team turn things around. Millsap, who missed eight games while resting a knee injury, went over 20 points in two of the four games after his return but was limited to an average of 16 points on 41.5 percent shooting in three games against Washington this season.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, TNT, FSN Southeast (Atlanta), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
ABOUT THE HAWKS (43-39): Atlanta won four straight in impressive fashion before falling in the regular-season finale while resting most of the its key players. The last time the full squad took the floor it put together one of its biggest wins of the campaign, a 103-76 drubbing of the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday. Center Dwight Howard, who will be playing in his 90th career playoff game on Tuesday, recorded a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the win and enters the postseason averaging a double-double at 13.5 points and 12.7 boards.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (49-33): Washington brushed off the slow finish to its season and is looking for a little revenge after losing to the Hawks in the Eastern Conference semifinals two years ago. "We're one of eight teams that have a chance to advance and we’re excited about the opportunity," Wizards coach Scott Brooks told reporters. "I’m looking forward to seeing how we’ll play, and I’m very confident with how we’re going to play. I know we’re going to play with great effort." Brooks doesn't need to worry about effort from Wall, who posted career highs in points (23.1), assists (10.7), steals (2.0) and field goal percentage (45.1) in the regular season.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Hawks are expected to start SG Tim Hardaway and SF Taurean Prince while bringing SF Thabo Sefolosha and SF Kent Bazemore off the bench.
2. Wall sat out the final two games of the regular season to rest a quad injury but is expected to be ready for Game 1.
3. Washington took the final three of four meetings during the regular season and five of the last seven overall.