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Led by Wall and Beal, Wizards moving on to face Celtics

Associated Press — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 05:00:00 +0000

Even as Dennis Schroder took off the other way, ahead of everyone for what looked like an uncontested layup, Wall managed to chase him down.

On a night when Wall set a career playoff-high with 42 points, his remarkable defensive play was a big reason the Washington Wizards moved on to the second round of the playoffs with a 115-99 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.

”That’s a sign of a champion,” Washington coach Scott Brooks said. ”He gave us everything he had.”

The Wizards will face the top-seeded Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Game 1 is Sunday in Boston.

After the home team won the first five games of the opening-round series, the Wizards finally broke through on the road to end Atlanta’s season.

It was a much-needed confidence boost heading into a series lacking the home-court advantage.

”We can win on the road,” said Bradley Beal, who also came up big in the series-clinching victory with 31 points. ”Just being able to withstand their run and coming together and getting the win on the road, that’s the biggest thing.”

Washington never trailed in Game 6, building a 22-point cushion early in the third quarter. Atlanta made a game of it, launching a furious comeback that closed the gap to 93-90 with more than eight minutes remaining. Schroder, one of the NBA’s fastest players, had a chance to cut it to a single point when he picked off Beal’s errant pass.

But Wall came up from behind, timed his leap perfectly and swatted the ball away .

Then, at the offensive end, he split two defenders with a behind-the-back dribble and a crossover, somehow getting the driving shot to fall as he slammed into burly Paul Millsap. The Hawks missed a 3-pointer, Wall countered with a pull-up jumper, and just like that the Wizards were up 97-90.

They pulled away from there, getting 19 points from Wall in the final period.

Brooks is just as impressed with what Wall, as well as Beal, provide beyond the stat sheet.

”We have a lot of good players who help us win games, but his leadership and Brad’s leadership have been great for our young players,” the first-year Wizards coach said. ”I couldn’t ask for two better guys to lead our team.”

Wall and Beal will certainly lead the way against the Celtics, who bounced back from losing the first games at home to beat No. 8 seed Chicago 4-2.

The Wizards split their four regular-season meetings against Boston, each team winning twice at home. While the Celtics surprisingly edged out defending NBA champion Cleveland for the top seed, they finished only four games ahead of No. 4 Washington in the East.

Boston looked downright vulnerable against the Bulls until Rajon Rondo went down with a broken thumb, missing the last four games of the season. The Celtics won them all, including a 105-83 clincher Friday night .

Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said Wall and Beal are a challenging 1-2 punch for any team to defend.

”When you have multiple pick-and-roll players, multiple ball-handlers, that can move you side to side,” he said. ”And they’re different, too, so how you want to guard one isn’t how you want to guard the other. … No doubt they’ve both improved and both are playing well. Those guys are a handful.”

Wall averaged 29.5 points in the six games against the Hawks. Despite struggling early on with his shot, Beal finished the series at 25.8.

”That’s how they have to play for us,” center Marcin Gortat said. ”They’re both the head of the snake. They both have to be productive for us.”

They might need a bit more help deeper into the playoffs. One option is Markieff Morris, who battled foul trouble through much of the series against the Hawks before settling down in Game 6. He was called for only two fouls, finishing with 17 points and eight rebounds.

But as long as the Wizards have Wall and Beal, they’ve got a chance.

”Listen, they’re bad boys, both of them,” Gortat said. ”When they’re locked in, and when they’re playing team basketball, they’re ridiculously good. That’s enough.”

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Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry .

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For more AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

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Wall, Beal and defense keying Wizards’ 12-game home streak

Associated Press — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 05:00:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) The same fans who John Wall once joked get more excited for a free chicken sandwich when an opponent misses two free throws than a victory are now being treated to something even better: A winning streak.

Wall and the Washington Wizards have won 12 in a row at home heading into the midpoint of the NBA season and haven’t lost at Verizon Center since Dec. 6. Better starts and improved defense and bench play have sparked this run, pushed Washington to fifth place in the Eastern Conference and made home feel pretty sweet.

”We like playing on our home floor, there’s no question we have a comfort level,” coach Scott Brooks said. ”The baskets, everything seems to be good for us. I think our guys are comfortable, they like playing here. We want to make this a special place. Crowd’s been great. We just got to continue to give them something that they can be proud of.”

Brooks tells his players that Wizards fans don’t expect perfection but want 48 minutes of great effort. After a disappointing .500 season last year depressed turnout, this retooled team plays a more exciting, up-and-down brand of basketball that’s worth watching.

The Wizards have eclipsed 100 points in 17 of their past 20 games with Wall on pace to set a career high in points and steals. Backcourt mate Bradley Beal is also on the way to a career-high scoring season, but he points to the other end of the floor as the reason for Washington’s success and home winning streak.

”In terms of us, it’s just been our defense and just us getting after it and playing with energy,” Beal said. ”It makes everything easier on offense when we get out and run. That way we don’t necessarily have to call plays all the time, we just get out and flow, and it works. In order to do so, we have to play defense and defend, and we can’t do that if we’re always taking the ball out.”

Brooks wanted the Wizards to become a defensive-minded team that could score instead of an offensive team that defended when it felt like it. Second-year guard Kelly Oubre showed that progress with on-ball defense by locking down the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard on Monday and said that aspect of the game is better now with more familiarity of scouting reports.

Beyond starters Wall, Beal, Otto Porter, Markieff Morris and Marcin Gortat, the second unit led by Oubre, rookie Tomas Satoransky, Trey Burke and Jason Smith is coming along.

”Guys know their roles now,” Oubre said. ”We’re a solid defensive team. We’re getting better. … We have a good home-court advantage coming on now. We got 12 in a row? We’ve got to keep that rolling, man. These fans want to see wins. We’re here to give it to them.”

Wall took some heat last year for suggesting that the free fast-food chicken sandwich fans get if an opponent misses both free throws in the fourth quarter generates the most excitement. It’s oftentimes the loudest cheer of the night, but not lately thanks to the Wizards winning.

He definitely notices a difference.

”We start to win, we go to the starting lineup, the gym is kind of packed more than empty and not getting packed later on,” Wall said. ”There is a lot of excitement, and it’s great to know that when they call our names they are cheering for us. It’s something we can use as an advantage.”

After the finale of this home stand Wednesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Wizards play five of their next six games on the road. Their challenge now is to adapt the home winning recipe to winning in less-friendly confines.

”We have to now view it the same way, respect our opponent no matter who it is and just come out with energy knowing that the crowd is against us, nobody’s there to cheer for us,” Beal said. ”It’s us against everybody. Just having that same mindset in our approach to the game is probably all we need to do.”

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Wizards’ Wall fined $25,000 for interaction with official

Associated Press — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 05:00:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) The NBA fined Washington Wizards guard John Wall $25,000 on Wednesday for inappropriate interaction with an official and failing to leave the court in a timely manner after he was ejected.

The incident happened in the final minute of the Wizards’ 114-106 loss to the Houston Rockets on Monday night.

Wall was ejected after getting his second technical foul of the game with 33.3 seconds left.

Official Marc Davis said he gave Wall a technical foul for bumping him. Davis said he told Wall to ”watch himself” and that Wall ”looked over his shoulder and used vulgarity and inappropriate language.”

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Wiz PG Wall breaks Unseld’s club record for career assists

Associated Press — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 05:00:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) Washington Wizards point guard John Wall broke Hall of Fame center Wes Unseld’s franchise record for career assists.

Wall entered Monday night’s game against the Houston Rockets three shy of Unseld’s mark of 3,822 assists and tied it in the first quarter.

He then eclipsed Unseld by feeding Bradley Beal for a dunk with 10:15 left in the third quarter. The accomplishment was announced to the crowd at the following timeout.

Wall is in his seventh season in the NBA after being the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2010 out of Kentucky.

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Wall, Beal say they’re on same page, ready to lead Wizards

Associated Press — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 05:00:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) With only one ball John Wall and Bradley Beal know they have to share it.

The dynamic backcourt duo is standing squarely in the limelight and need to coexist successfully for the Washington Wizards to get back to the playoffs. Wall is healthy again after having surgery on each knee, and Beal is fresh off signing a $128 million, five-year contract that ranked among the richest in the NBA this offseason.

Wall conceded during the summer that he and Beal have a ”tendency to dislike each other on the court.” It’s a point of tension but one they say won’t create cracks in the Wizards’ franchise foundation.

”We’re just two competitive people,” Wall said recently. ”Whenever you have your two best players and they both want the game-winning shot and want those type of plays, you’re going to have disagreements on the court. But other than that, we’re fine.”

Wall and Beal are coming off career highs in points and a low in team success as Washington finished .500 and missed the playoffs after two consecutive postseason appearances. New coach Scott Brooks is in the midst of installing a defense-first mentality and is counting on Wall and Beal to set the tone there.

To be leaders defensively, Wall and Beal have to be on the same page. They say they are, even if sometimes they argue like brothers.

”We both realize that that’s what’s important here: us winning games, us being leaders of a team and us growing as a backcourt together,” Beal said. ”I’m going to be here another five years; he’s going to be here for hopefully the rest of his career, as well. We have a great system, a great team, our chemistry’s great. Me and John are fine, and we’re going to be in the rankings of the best backcourts.”

The Wizards don’t usually make those rankings, and being overlooked is something that motivates Wall and Beal. Brooks, who doesn’t mind healthy disagreements and believes they are a sign of a strong team, wants his top players to be fueled by slights but not distracted by them.

”You still want to play with a chip on your shoulder,” Brooks said Tuesday. ”Every team has talent and every team has a lot of skilled players, but when you have a guy like Brad and John, you want that. You want that in them. That’s what gets them going.”

Wall and Beal push each other as much as anything, even if that can cause friction. Wall just wants to downplay the effect that friction has on the Wizards’ success.

”With Brad, people want to put words in your mouth and make it seem like it’s worse than what it was,” he said. ”Nah. We all knew Brad was going to get paid a certain contract and he deserves it. All I said is the same thing I did – when I got paid, everybody said oh I didn’t deserve it. We just got to go and prove it.

”I think when he’s healthy, he’s proven that he can play in this league. He can be an all-star, he can be one of the best two-way players.”

Wall will get eased into another prove-it season and expects to play around 32 minutes in the Wizards opener Thursday at the Atlanta Hawks. With Brooks wanting to keep Wall’s minutes in the low-30 range, he’d also like the 23-year-old Beal to take over some more of the ball-distribution responsibilities and create for teammates as much as he looks for his own shot.

”We have a lot of players that can make plays,” Brooks said. ”I think Brad has really improved in that area. That’s one of the things I’ve challenged him when I first took over the job in May is to be a better playmaker. I think he can be one of the best two-way off guards in the league. That growth has to happen.”

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Washington Wizards’ John Wall kicked off Las Vegas flight

Associated Press — Sat, 30 May 2015 03:15:48 +0000

LAS VEGAS (AP) – Police say NBA star John Wall was kicked off a flight in Las Vegas on Tuesday after a disturbance was reported.

Las Vegas police said Friday that the Washington Wizards’ All-Star point guard was with a group of people on an American Airlines flight around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Police say one of the people with Wall got into a verbal fight with another passenger who was unrelated to the group.

Authorities say that’s when the airline requested Wall and his group be removed from the plane. Police say there were no charges or arrests.

An American Airlines spokeswoman referred questions to police and said the airline had no information about a disturbance on a Tuesday flight from Las Vegas.

Messages left with a Wizards spokesman were not returned.

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