ATLANTA — Will Bynum’s picture hangs on the wall in Georgia Tech’s basketball practice facility. The shiny gym that holds his photo, and that of numerous others who became pros after leaving the school, didn’t exist when Bynum was the point guard for the Yellow Jackets from 2003 through 2005. Seeing himself archived — though the information below has him still playing for the Detroit Pistons — made Bynum feel one way: “Old.”
The past is being visited in various ways during the Washington Wizards’ Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Atlanta Hawks. Bynum was able to meet up with people that he knew from college after the team’s Game 1 victory Sunday afternoon. Wizards coach Randy Wittman began his NBA career in Atlanta and still has friends in the organization. The Wizards took a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals after an opening win on the road, just like last season. Washington is the first team in NBA history to win the opening game on the road in four consecutive playoff series.
That’s enough repeated history for the Wizards, though. After winning in Indiana against the top-seeded Pacers last season, they lost the series in six games. They are not interested in a duplication of that.
Two of those games against Indiana were tight, including Game 2. The Wizards lost, 86-82, despite being down just a point with 3:23 to play. They went back to D.C. with a split instead of a 2-0 lead. The rest of the series was a struggle. In the opening round this season, they took two in Toronto. It set them up for the eventual sweep.
“Try to get two on the road, but most importantly try to get the first game,” John Wall said. “I feel like that is the key to try to put yourself in a good position. Now we have another opportunity to try to get another one and go home up 2-0. We know it is going to be totally tougher than what it was. Those guys are probably not going to miss as much as they did, like they did in the fourth quarter, but I feel like we can play better. We didn’t play our best game.”
Math, and NBA history, overwhelmingly back up Wall’s point. Coming into this postseason, when road teams lead best-of-seven series 1-0, they win the series 54.8 percent of the time. When they go down 0-1, the lose the series 84.9 percent of the time. Getting Game 2 on the road — which happens only 23.4 percent of the time — trends the series to the visitors even more. Teams that do that were 26-3 at the start of the playoffs. The Wizards added a 27th occurrence with their brisk dismissal of the Raptors.
SEE ALSO: John Wall cuts down turnovers, Wizards excel
“We can’t be happy for what we did [Sunday] because this was the same situation we were in last year with Indiana,” Drew Gooden said. “Fell off, gave that series away. We learned from that mistake. Thank God we’ve got the same unit that was in that situation that series. So we know how to carry ourselves throughout this series and know that was just one game. Doesn’t mean anything.”
There were scares Sunday in addition to the joy. Wall and Bradley Beal both ended up on the floor in pain. Beal sprained his ankle and Wall mashed his left wrist into the court when trying to stabilize his falling body. Postgame X-rays for each injury were negative.
Monday, Wall did not practice. Beal did a little work in what was a light practice overall. Beal did not appear to have a noticeable limp and said he would play in Game 2. The swelling in his ankle overnight was not as bad as anticipated.
Wall had a black wrap around his left wrist and the back of his hand. He said that when he fell on the hand in Game 1, he thought it was broken. Wall said he broke the same wrist his sophomore year of high school in a similar tumble.
“My hand hurts,” Wall said. “Real painful, swollen, but other than that I’m fine.”
Wall said he received a lot of treatment Sunday night to reduce swelling. He feels like the injury won’t hamper him in Game 2, anticipating similar improvement overnight Monday. Initial treatment during the game was a wrapped wrist because Wall felt pain there. Wrapping the wrist, Wall said Monday, pushed swelling into his hand.
“It wasn’t on top of my hand at first,” Wall said. “But now the top of of my hand is real sore.”
SEE ALSO: John Wall, Bradley Beal still sore but expect to play
The Hawks are dealing with a different kind of pain, the one that comes from being the favorite which blew a double-digit lead in the second half at home. Like the Raptors, they handled the Wizards during the regular season. Also like the Raptors, they could not hold off the Wizards in the opener, instead increasing the emphasis on Game 2. Paul Pierce understands the position.
“When you at the top, you always have the target on your back,” Pierce said. “Everybody’s gunning for you. You become the hunted. They’re a 60-win team, they’re the No. 1 team in the East, that’s what it is. The pressure is all on you now. I’ve been in those situations where we get everybody’s best shot every single night. That’s just what it is when you’re the top team.
“We know what type of team we are. The way we played earlier in the season, when we played our best, when we locked down and focused on our defense and locked in. We say every day we need to lock in to the task at hand and we know when we do that, we’re one of the best teams in the East.”
That’s one other dose of the past they would be happy to replicate.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.