John Wall’s return spoiled in Wizards’ Game 5 loss to Hawks

ATLANTA | Scattered on the floor in front of John Wall’s locker were the night’s protective devices. Two black hand guards were inside out, tossed on the carpet like sweat-filled socks ripped off aching feet at the end of a long day. Wall played possum and point guard Wednesday in Atlanta when he returned to the Eastern Conference semifinals. He was fractured, but not broken.

Wall said he knew Tuesday he would play in Wednesday’s Game 5, though he was not letting on prior. After warming up before the game his confidence grew in large part because the swelling decreased in his injured left hand and wrist. Any feel-good ending to the day concluded there.

Al Horford tore apart candy-coated storylines — Wall’s return, Paul Pierce did it again — with one simple layup. His putback with 1.9 seconds to play gave the Atlanta Hawks an 82-81 Game 5 win and leverage of a closing bear trip. The Hawks lead the Wizards 3-2 with Game 6 waiting Friday. If that’s not the end of the series, both teams will return south for the decision-maker.

“We feel like we let it go,” Pierce said.

Wall hit the floor about 70 minutes before tipoff to begin his work. He left his pink suit hanging in his locker and tested his injured left hand. First, he worked left-hander floaters. He moved to gentle pullup jump shot work. Eventually, irritated with the black wrap on his hand, he pulled it off and started dribbling, shooting and catching passes without it.

When Wizards coach Randy Wittman met with the media shortly before Wall warmed up, he said the All-Star point guard’s participation would be a game-time decision. Earlier in the day, Wall contended he did not know if he would play in Game 5. The swelling in his hand had gone down so much Wall noted his hand almost looked normal now, 10 days after his Game 1 fall that caused five fractures in his wrist and hand. He, it turns out, was being intentionally non-committal.

Doctors came to look at Wall again before the game and Wittman sat in on the discussion. Wall’s warmup was the biggest indicator he may play his regular role. He would have been active regardless. An hour before the game, when the official list of inactive players has to be handed in, word spread. Wall would play. Not only that, he would start after feeling good about his warmup work.

“I was able to do a lot of ball-handling that made me feel comfortable,” Wall said.

Important to Wittman was Wall’s future. There is still risk for Wall, who has five non-displaced fractures. The doctors told him if he repeated his fall from Game 1 of the series when he put his hand out to brace himself during an uncontrolled descent, the breaks could become clean. Wittman said before the final meeting with the doctors that a player’s long-term future outweighs the short-term value, then ultimately deferred to Wall.

“He said if you feel comfortable, make the last call,” Wall said.

Wall appeared to be feeling out the speed of the game once it tipped. He often kept his injured hand in a fist and tucked close to his body when a Hawks player came to screen him. Atlanta pushed Wall to his left on offense. Bradley Beal handled the first-possession point guard duties as Wall waded in.

By the half, it was apparent that time, adrenaline and sweat had moved Wall to a new level of comfort. He contended after morning shootaround that he would not play if he did not feel comfortable and could not perform at an All-Star level. His 11 first-half points, two of which came on the break when he finished the play with his left hand after a diabolical in-and-out dribble at full speed with the same hand, proved his level of comfort. Wall added four assists and two rebounds, providing the Wizards offense a nitro boost. Washington closed the first half with a 19-6 surge that produced a 47-41 lead and put the Wizards two quarters away from an opportunity to close the series at home Friday night. Wall would finish his first game in more than a week with 15 points, seven assists, four rebounds and six turnovers.

Most of the game was spent in the muck, and the falling bodies on the final scoring play represented that. Point guard Dennis Schroder drove against Wall, who blocked the shot. Nene slammed into Hawks power forward Paul Millsap. Millsap had tugged Pierce’s arm just prior. That trio converging, and Nene falling to the ground with Millsap as if something detonated, left Horford alone to run into the lane, snag the ball while bodies flew, then put it back in the basket. A final heave from Wall did not have a chance.

A possession earlier, Pierce had appeared to leave another crater-sized mark on the playoffs. His 3-pointer in front of the Hawks’ bench pulled the Wizards in front, 81-80, with eight seconds to play. His shot appeared to be a late remedy for the Wizards’ fourth-quarter wilt. With 5:31 to play, the Wizards held a nine-point lead with a chance to close the series at home on Friday sitting in their lap. Horford’s end-game stickback cancelled those thoughts, instead shoving the Wizards to the edge of the postseason plank.

“It shouldn’t have come down to that,” Pierce said. “If you look at the score, we got them on the ropes. That’s a point where we’re supposed to turn up the heat and push the game to 12, 13, 14 points.”

Wall said he felt fine after the game, which was a smashing, aesthetically unpleasing affair. Washington shot 37.5 percent. Atlanta shot 41 percent. The teams combined to shoot 9-for-39 (23.1 percent) from behind the 3-point line and bumbled their way to 42 total turnovers.

Horford’s shot will not be recalled for its beauty, only the joy it zapped through Philips Arena, filled with patrons who were ready to join a crowd of those undone by Pierce. Instead, the Wizards walked off the court, trying to avoid celebrating Atlanta players.

“I think the sting of this game is going to motivate us for Game 6,” Pierce said. “I think guys will really be fired up knowing we let one get away.”