Basketball is a simple game. Sometimes all a player needs to get going is to see the ball go through the net. Sometimes he needs to grab it with both hands and force it in. Al Horford did both.
Down a point in the final seconds, Horford bounded through the lane to collect a Dennis Schröder miss and put back the game-winner with a second left.
"I just got the ball, and my first instinct was to put it in the basket," Horford said.
Before Horford could score two of the most important points in the history of pro basketball in Atlanta, he had to first get his team and teammates back into a game from which they were quickly disappearing. Through the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, the Hawks had only scored a single point while their one-point lead bottomed out to a nine-point deficit.
With 5:32 left in the game, Horford calmly took an entry pass, dribbled once, twice, and spun into a post move that drew a foul on Paul Pierce. It wasn't a memorable play except for the fact that it ended with a trip to the free throw line and the all-important chance to see the ball go through the hoop.
As Horford made his two free throws, Kyle Korver stood ten feet behind him practicing his own shot motion, albeit empty-handed.
"I hadn't shot a shot in a while. I'd just come back into the game a little bit before too," Korver said. "There are a couple of things I'm thinking about during the game with my shot, just because you never know when you're going to get it."
Then he added, "And if you do, you've got to be ready."
Korver and Horford showed that readiness. First, Korver hit a Decatur-deep, 27-foot three-pointer. Then on the next trip, Horford added a three from the right corner, and Philips Arena erupted to let the world know the Hawks were back in the game.
At that point it was a back-and-forth affair. With 20 seconds left and the game tied, Paul Pierce went into a spin move in the lane, but Korver slipped in to help and poked the ball away for his sixth steal of the night. The steal triggered a give-and-give-and-give-and-go fast break between Horford and DeMarre Carroll that ended with a Carroll layup.
Seconds later, the Wizards regained the lead for the final time when Bradley Beal (23 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks) drove the lane and kicked a pass out to Pierce for a three-point shot with 8 seconds left.
For Washington, John Wall played put forth an incredible display of basketball despite five non-displaced fractures in his left hand. For the game, the All-Star point guard tallied 15 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks.
But Wall wasn't alone as a difference-making point guard.
As instrumental as Horford and Korver were in the game's final minutes, Schröder (4 points and 3 assists in the 4th quarter) was equally important. It was his ability to drive the lane and get the Wizards' defense in recovery mode that freed the Atlanta offense.
According to head coach Mike Budenholzer, Schröder was still in the game for Jeff Teague with five minutes to go in order to get Teague a quick rest. When Schröder played well and the Hawks started their comeback, Atlanta rolled with the hot hand.
"Jeff took over coaching," Budenholzer recounted. "He said, 'Leave him in.'"
On Teague, Budenholzer added, "It (takes) a great teammate to not only encourage Dennis but also encourage me to just go ahead and let (Dennis) finish."
The Hawks managed to win a game in which they sputtered badly to start both the third and fourth quarters. After Atlanta turned the ball over on five straight possessions to start the second half, Horford and Teague rescued the Hawks by combining to score 15 third-quarter points.
In fact, it was Horford's game from the opening tip. On a night when he was the both the game-high scorer (23 points, tied with Beal) and rebounder (11), it was Horford's intensity in front of both rims that stood out.
Horford had 6 offensive rebounds in a game where the Wizards' starters combined for the same total, and he added 5 blocks on a night where the Wizards' frontcourt managed none.
"Al is a stabilizing force," Korver said after the game. "That's who his person is. That's not just how he plays, that who he is. He is calm and collected and thoughtful, but yet intense on the basketball court."
MOOSE TIME
Mike Muscala got another chance to show he could help the Hawks.
When Atlanta was struggling to find offense in the second quarter, Muscala scored eight quick points, a pair of jumpers sandwiched around two shots at the rim.
"Muskie is really growing and developing right before our eyes," Budenholzer said. "In the playoffs, he has found a way to come in and help us. He has a knack for getting around the basket and scoring."
2CHAINZ COURTSIDE
With about two minutes left and Beal inbounding the ball, 2Chainz was standing at his courtside seat jumping up and down and giving Beal an earful as he tried to get the ball in play about six feet away. The national TV broadcast was showing a replay, but trust me that this event definitely happened.
KORVER PLASTERED ALL OVER PLAYOFF LEADERBOARD
Through the playoff games played Wednesday night, Korver is second in three-pointers made (35) and seventh in steals (18). In addition, his 14 blocked shots also ranks seventh in the NBA, and tops among guards.
Playoff blocked shots:
Dwight Howard, HOU, 28DeAndre Jordan, LAC, 26Pau Gasol, CHI, 21Timofey Mozgov, CLE, 21Al Horford, ATL, 19Andrew Bogut, GSW 17Kyle Korver, ATL, 14Marc Gasol, MEM, 14LeBron James, CLE, 14
Story by KL ChouinardTwitter: @AnaheimAmigos