Washington Wizards: 3 Keys To Clinching First-Round Series

2. Turn Up The Defensive Intensity

The Washington Wizards are leading 3-2 in this series, but the emergence of point guard Dennis Schroder currently has them grasping at straws.

Scrhoder went off in Game 5 for a game-high 29 points, 11 assists and two steals. He shot 10-for-18 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the three-point line.

The Wizards did a good job of containing the Hawks starters and their bench outside of Schroder and Millsap. But in Game 6, they’ll need to be a lot more engaged on the defensive end. Schroder and Millsap combined for 50 points in Game 5.

Injuries and foul trouble, on the other hand, have slowed things down a bit for the Wizards in the rotation department. Center Marcin Gortat was faced with the tough task of guarding Millsap. Kelly Oubre Jr. also guarded Millsap some in the second half.

Markieff Morris played just 20 minutes as he was in foul trouble for most of the game.

It will be interesting to see if center Ian Mahinmi is available for Game 6 as Washington could really use him on defense and for rebounding. He is expected to return before the end of series. While Hawks’ starters outscored the Wizards 80-77, the bench outscored Atlanta 26-19.