After their road win in the first game of the conference semifinals at Atlanta, the Washington Wizards appeared to be in a position to win their second straight playoff series. Then John Wall landed awkwardly.
Despite expressing some bravado about playing before the game, when the Wizards’ point guard announced he couldn’t play in game two Tuesday night coach Randy Whitman, who has called Wall “the toughest basketball player he’s come across in 30 years,” immediately suspected the worst for Tuesday and beyond.
Tuesday night, the Hawks jumped to an eight point first quarter lead and, while the Wizards gamely hung around through the second and third quarters, they faded down the stretch and lost 106-90. Clearly, the Wizards missed more than Wall’s four consecutive playoff double-doubles. They also missed his intensity, passion and leadership.
Thursday night, it became clear that the Wizards will likely have to play the remainder of the series without him when they revealed that Wall has not one, not two but five non-displaced fractures in the point guard’s left wrist and hand.
Though Whitman said they had to be “prepared as a team to play without him,” with Wall’s injury, the series swung in favor of Atlanta in spite of their loss of the home court advantage.
No comments have been posted yet, be the first!
Post a comment by filling out the form below.
