Al Horford, Hawks Barely Escape Wizards with 82-81 Win

Al Horford scored the go-ahead basket with 1.9 seconds left to give the Atlanta Hawks an 82-81 victory over the Washington Wizards. Paul Pierce made a three-pointer with 8.3 seconds left to give the Wizards a 81-80 lead and possibly the game winning basket. Al Horford was in the right place at the right time after grabbing an offensive rebound off Dennis Schroder missed shot. Horford led the Hawks with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Paul Millsap had 14 points and 7 rebounds for the Hawks. Jeff Teague had 14 points and 5 assists for the Hawks.

Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 23 points and 7 rebounds. John Wall returned from injury with 15 points, team-high 7 assists and team-high 4 steals. Marcin Gortat had 14 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists for the Wizards. Paul Pierce struggled this game before making the go-ahead three pointer, he only made 3 out of 9 shots to finish with 11 points.

The Hawks started out slow in the first half and outscored the Wizards by seven points in the second half. The Hawks travel to D.C. for game six and need to close out the series there. The Hawks should have swept the Brooklyn Nets after defeating them in six games. The Hawks haven’t had much rest and if the Wizards force a game seven, the Hawks season could possibly be over.

Photo credit: AJC.com