Wizards at Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks did what they needed to do in Game 3 by protecting home court and drawing within 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. The Hawks will try to even the series when they host the Washington Wizards in Game 4 on Monday.
Washington was the more physical group in the first two games of the series and breezed to a pair of wins at home, the first of which Atlanta star Paul Millsap likened to an MMA matchup instead of a basketball game. The Hawks did a better job of matching that physicality at home and pulled off a 116-98 win as Millsap led the way with 29 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. Millsap attempted nine free throws in the win, and Wizards power forward Markieff Morris suggested Millsap's earlier comments helped bend the referees in his favor in Game 3. "Me, as a man, you take your wins with your losses. I take my wins with my losses all the time," Morris told reporters. "He just did more for his team. He's a crybaby. You get all the calls when you're a crybaby. That's how I look at it."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), FSN Southeast (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE WIZARDS: Morris could stand to do more for his team on the floor instead of in the media scrum after totaling 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting in the last two games. Washington shooting guard Bradley Beal appeared to break out of his own slump with a big fourth quarter in Game 2 but fell off again in Game 3 while totaling 12 points on 6-of-20 shooting, including 0-of-6 from 3-point range. The one player producing consistently for the Wizards is All-Star point guard John Wall, who is averaging 31 points in the series after going 10-of-12 from the floor in Game 3.
ABOUT THE HAWKS: Millsap was asked about Morris' comments in his own postgame press conference on Saturday and shrugged off the "crybaby" label. "It definitely got personal now, yes," Millsap told reporters. "I don't care, so what. Take his loss and go back to the hotel, be ready for the next game." Millsap continues to get help on the court from point guard Dennis Schroder, who is averaging 25 points and eight assists while doing his best to keep Wall in check.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hawks C Dwight Howard failed to score in double figures in any of the first three games and is averaging six points.
2. Washington SG Bojan Bogdanovic is 1-of-10 from 3-point range in the series.
3. Atlanta rookie SG Taurean Prince is averaging 14 points on 62.1 percent shooting over the first three games.