Atlanta Hawks vs. Washington Wizards Game-6 Final Score: Hawks End Wizards Season, 94-91

Well, it looks like the season is over.

You might be checking that last Paul Pierce shot over and over (because I totally am), but it didn’t count. You can put the remote down. It’s over.

After climbing out of a double-digit hole in the second half, the Washington Wizards regained the lead over the Atlanta Hawks with just minutes remaining in the game. Bradley Beal came up with a steal in the final moments, Al Horford missed a clutch free throw, and Washington’s fate was in their hands.

With just seconds on the clock, Paul Pierce launched up a three to tie it up. Swish.

Unfortunately, the ball was in Pierce’s hands when the buzzer went off. Seriously. You can stop checking the replay. The season is over.

Washington looked lethargic right out of the gate and their big men certainly didn’t help.

Neither Nene nor Marcin Gortat looked interested in securing defensive rebounds, and the Hawks took advantage of their laziness. There was two instances where Nene literally stood under the basket and watched DeMarre Carroll clean up the glass for an easy put back.

Eventually, Randy Wittman yanked his starting front court out of the game for Otto Porter and Drew Gooden who gave the team more effort.

Still, Washington struggled to get stops.

Gooden has never been a good defender and that obviously didn’t change tonight. He was late on the rotations and Horford got easy baskets at the rim.

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That changed once…Kevin Seraphin checked into the game.

Seraphin hasn’t played in virtually the entire NBA Playoffs, but when they needed him tonight, he showed up to play.

Horford abused Nene and Gortat with his quickness all series long, but had trouble doing the same against Seraphin. His versatility also gave Washington another look offensively.

Seraphin scored a runner to give Washington a one point lead in the first quarter. He finished the game with a playoff career-high 13 points to go along side 8 rebounds.

Gortat played just 12 minutes and Wittman revealed that he was battling sickness as recently as last night. He was apparently throwing up and needed an IV. It was clear that something was up right from the start.

Washington’s rebounding problem seemed to be solved when Otto Porter was on the floor.

In just one sequence, Porter grabbed three offensive rebounds. On the other end, he finished several layups after finding himself open by moving without the ball.

When they started to control the glass, the Washington Wizards started to get some things going in transition. John Wall, even with five fractures in his left hand, continued to play outstanding ball. You could count on Wall for heart and hustle, and that’s exactly what he brought tonight.

At halftime, Wall had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. He finished the game with 20 points and 13 assists…with a broken hand.

Similar to their loss against the Indiana Pacers exactly one year ago, the Washington Wizards started to get some momentum with Bradley Beal leading the offense. He knocked down a contested three point shot and Washington followed that up with an Otto Porter dunk in transition.

That momentum carried over to the fourth quarter where Beal finished a dunk in transition, giving the Washington Wizards a one point lead.

Beal scored 13 points in the first 11 minutes of the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 29 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. He continued to score when Washington needed him the most. Despite the loss, we saw Beal take a tremendous step forward during the playoffs.

Washington had a chance to extend their lead, but Nene missed two free throws. Atlanta then scored on two consecutive possessions.

That’s when #PlayoffRandy took over and gave Garrett Temple playing time in the final moments of a Game-6. Temple stole an inbounds pass, got fouled, and made both of his free throws.

The Wizards then fouled Horford, who missed one free throw.

Wall scrambled, found Pierce in the corner, and The Truth managed to make an extremely difficult shot that didn’t count.

After the game, neither Beal nor Wall were pleased with the outcome. Both players improved tremendously during the playoffs, but seeing them disappointed after the game should bode well for their future. They’re not satisfied and they shouldn’t be.

Now the Washington Wizards are going to have to figure out what they’ll do during the off-season, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

Some will question how the series would’ve ended if Wall never got hurt, but sadly, we’ll never have an answer to that question. Despite the loss, I think we have something to be proud of.

Washington will build on this.

Next: Wizards Interview Several 2nd Round Prospects