If you've been following the NBA Playoffs - whether this year or in years past - it's no secret that the Heat dominate the early rounds. In each game, LeBron and Co. put the team in unquestionable positions to win.
Here's a summary of Round 1 Heat results from recent years:
2011: 4-1, 76ers
2012: 4-1, Knicks
2013: 4-0, Bucks
2014: 4-0, Hawks
On to the Wizards. The first two games were comeback victories in the 4th quarter and OT, usually traits of a veteran team. Surely, Gortat and Nene are veteran leaders of the front court. But what the Wizards excelled in - as has been the case late in the season - was stifling defense and a dynamic, explosive offense.
That was the difference in this series, and it doesn't take an analyst to come to this conclusion if you were watching the games.
The Bulls relied on Hinrich, Dunleavy, Augustin, and Butler for the 3-ball. None of them caught fire in the same game, posing a catastrophic problem for the squad from Game 1. Their only win came in Game 3 in DC, where Dunleavy shot out of his mind and Jimmy Butler made a couple clutch threes near the end after having a cold hand all game.
This kind of performance against a Bulls team that had high aspirations entering the playoffs shares many similarities with the Heat's recent successes. Late in the series, the Wiz got off to double digit leads and never looked back.
Game 5: John Wall struggled with his mid-range game, but he hit timely threes and drove at will, often times against two and three idle Bulls defenders on fast breaks derived from long outlet passes. Bradley Beal kept the defense spread with his silky stop-and-pop release.
And even when the mid-range jumpers weren't falling, Gortat and Nene dominated the offensive boards with tip-out after tip-out. Nene went for 20 and 7, adding 4 beautiful assists to his post-suspension debut. If you look at his performance throughout the whole series, he dominated Joakim Noah, NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
I am avidly against everything Noah does - he has an uglier game than Ben Wallace did in the Pistons' 2000s stretch of success. But it can't be argued that he's a workhorse who uses his 6'11", 232-pound frame to the best of his advantage.
Ultimately, Washington's success originated from:
A. Nene and Gortat being able to best Noah and Gibson on the boards for the majority of the series and...
B. Augustin and Hinrich being faced with tenacious, shut-down defense limiting open looks, especially beyond the arc.
When it looked as though the Bulls were coming back with 4:00 left in the 4th after a Bulls 3, John Wall casually knocked down a trey of his own. Down 3 with just under 3:00, the Bulls failed to score, giving the 'Zards the ball with 2:38 left.
Gortat got FOUR STRAIGHT OFFENSIVE BOARDS to milk the clock down to 0:58. Despite the Wizards' failure to score on the possession, this was the possession of the game.
The Bulls opted for 2-pointers but continued to miss layups as they had been doing all night. Jimmy Butler missed the last of these opportunities with just over 20 seconds left, and John Wall finally put it away with free throws at the other end.
A quick note: Andre Miller should not be on the court in the 4th quarter. He should get a maximum of 10 minutes to give Wall a breather, but that's it. I understand he's a veteran, but he just doesn't add any defensive value, and his offense is limited to dishing it out. I loved him for years with Philly, but his time in this league has run dry.
TLDR; Washington led by double-digits for the majority of the game just as it did for most of the series. Its sights are set for home court advantage contingent upon the 8th-seeded Hawks knocking off the 1st-seeded Pacers. With Hibbert's playoff implosion, though, the Pacers almost seem like the favorable matchup considering how Gortat and Nene have been playing.
Either way, last night marked the first time since defeating the Bulls in 2005's Round 1 that the Wizards have advanced in the playoffs.
There isn't a Big 3 of Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison anymore. Instead, there's a team culture -- strong veterans and gutsy young-20-something future stars -- that has developed after struggling through the first 15 games of the season, something that only Wizards fans have been aware of.
Watch out Miami.
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