Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET the surprisingly potent No. 5 seed in the East, the Washington Wizards, will try to jump out to an early series lead on the top-seeded Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of their Round 2 series. Watch the matchup on TNT or live stream it free by clicking this link. Wizards fans can catch the radio broadcast on WFED-AM 1500, while Pacers fans can hear the action on 1070 The Fan.
The Pacers went through a hellish test in Round 1 vs. the Atlanta Hawks, who attempted an unprecedented amount of 3-pointers and pushed the top seed to a Game 7. While the Wizards' backcourt is even more fearsome, Pacers star Paul George thinks the Hawks attack taught valuable lessons.
"I think (Atlanta) helped us in terms of understanding how to be in gaps, being there for one another, rotating, so we're ready for the next round," George said.
The key to Washington's beyond the arc success is shooting guard Bradley Beal, who knows they'll be tested by yet another top-notch defensive outfit.
"They play somewhat similar to what we do," Beal said. "And the Pacers are just a big, physical team. They can play fast, but they can play slow at the same time, and that's a great defensive team. So we're definitely going to have our hands full."
Vogel expanded on George's talking point, specifically pointing out similarities on Washington's roster that match up with Atlanta's. "I think Teague helped us prepare for John Wall," coach Frank Vogel said.
"I think (Paul) Millsap helped us prepare for Nene. And (Kyle) Korver helped us prepare for Bradley Beal. But they're a different team. I think the heightened alertness, more than anything, will hopefully help us going into this series."
Conversely, George has been very hot offensively and it's unclear if Trevor Ariza has the defensive chops to contain him. George averaged 23.9 points and 10.7 rebounds per game in Round 1.
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