Washington @ Atlanta preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 19, 2017 ) Atlanta 101, Washington 109

The Atlanta Hawks are in a big hole in their first-round playoff series against the Washington Wizards but at least they're heading home. The Hawks will try to avoid a 3-0 deficit when the series shifts to Atlanta for Game 3 on Saturday.

"They have home-court advantage," Atlanta All-Star forward Paul Millsap told reporters after Wednesday's 109-101 loss in Game 2. "They played off of that. To us, it’s 0-0. We are going back to Atlanta. We are still confident." Millsap compared the series to an "MMA" match after a physical Game 1 and was more prepared for the physicality while delivering 27 points and 10 rebounds in the losing effort in Game 2. If Millsap and the Hawks plan to get back into the series, they are going to have to find a way to stop Wizards point guard John Wall. The All-Star scored 32 points in each of the first two games while averaging 11.5 assists and slashing into the paint en route to an 18-of-21 effort from the free-throw line in the two contests.

TV: 5:30 p.m. ET, TNT, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), FSN Southeast (Atlanta)

ABOUT THE WIZARDS: Wall finally got some help from backcourt mate Bradley Beal in the fourth quarter on Wednesday, when he scored 16 of his 31 points. The 23-year-old struggled to 2-of-11 from 3-point range in Game 1 and had trouble finding his outside shot early in Game 2 before exploding late. “Something I always tell myself, I don’t know what a miss is," Beal told reporters. "Like, it’s over. A miss is a lady. You just forget about it and you just move on to the next shot. That’s my way of helping me forget about my last shot, so I just stick with that and just keep it moving."

ABOUT THE HAWKS: Atlanta is consoling itself with the fact that it kept each of the first two games close and believes the breaks will go its way at home. "We had a chance in both games," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters. "We gave ourselves a chance on the road in the playoffs. Nobody likes the result. Nobody feels any better but the fact that you are there and you have an opportunity, you have to keep building on it. ... Now we have to go home and do the same." Budenholzer made the decision in Game 2 to leave starting center Dwight Howard on the bench for the entire fourth quarter, choosing instead to use a big man with a better chance of stretching the floor in Mike Muscala.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Wizards C Marcin Gortat matched a season high with five blocks in Game 2 and posted a double-double in each of the first two games.

2. Hawks PG Dennis Schroder averaged 24 points and 7.5 assists in the first two games.

3. Washington C Ian Mahinmi (calf), who hasn't played in the series, will miss at least the next two games.

PREDICTION: Hawks 112, Wizards 109