The Atlanta Hawks, already a lottery team, were missing Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Josh Childress, and Zaza Pachulia, who are basically their four best players. Anything less than a blowout victory is unacceptable. Luckily, the Wizards did blow them out like they should have, and while the final margin was only 13, it really wasn't that close.
Honestly, there's nothing significant to talk about here. The Hawks are so bad that even Michael Ruffin found a way to score 8 points. So instead of go into anything significant, let's just continue this blog's man-crush for Andray Blatche.
Specifically, let's talk about two huge plays at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth.
With the Wizards leading 73-61, Darius Songaila misses an open 19 foot jumper. It looks like Atlanta's going to secure the rebound and get the last shot of the quarter. Instead, Blatche tips it around, somehow secures the offensive board, and it eventually leads to a Ruffin dunk. I don't think there's anyone else on the team that would have gotten that rebound.
Then, early in the fourth quarter, the Wizards try to post Blatche on Marvin Williams on the left side. Despite the fact that Blatche is out well beyond the block, Williams fronts him with no backside help. AD lobs it over Williams head, the help comes late, and Blatche gets a slam and one.
Am I cherry-picking on two relatively insignificant plays? Totally. Am I making too big a deal out of this stuff? Definitely. But this was a game against the Atlanta TankHawks. There's literaly nothing here that really tells you anything about the Wizards' postseason chances.