John Wall and Bradley Beal both suffered injuries in the Wizards’ Game 1 win over the Hawks, but both were expected to play in Game 2 tonight.
Not happening for Wall.
Chris Miller of CSN:
Breaking: John Wall is OUT tonight vs. @ATLHawks (left wrist) #WizardsTalk #WizHawks #dcRising
— Chris Miller 🎥🎙🏀 (@CMillsPXP) May 5, 2015
This is obviously horrible news for the Wizards.
Wall dictates their offense, and they don’t have a reliable replacement, because they surely didn’t bank on needing one. They put a heavy load on Wall and ask him to carry them.
Ramon Sessions will likely moving into the starting lineup, and Garrett Temple and/or Will Bynum will have to fill in behind him. Temple has yet to play this postseason, and Bynum has seen just four minutes.
The offensive loss is larger, but Wall’s absence will be felt defensively, too. Jeff Teague will have a much easier time operating, and his effectiveness trickles down to the rest of the team.
I hope the Wizards are happy with a split in Atlanta, because winning without Wall tonight seems nearly impossible. Then again, the Clippers did surprisingly well without Chris Paul last night.