Wizards, Hawks adjust to 'tricky game' after refs get whistle-happy

WASHINGTON — Before Wednesday’s game, Washington Wizards power forward Markieff Morris suggested that Game 2 of this first round series with the Atlanta Hawks could resemble "Double MMA."

The referees may have taken Morris’ thoughts to heart and clutched their whistles.

With 55 fouls called on both teams combined, officiating played a pivotal role and dictated the pace of play for much of the 109-101 Wizards victory. For some players, the constant stops and starts made it tough to stay in rhythm.

“Not usually how we play,” Morris said. “A lot of fouls called, the refs had a hard time.”

Morris was asked if this game lived up to "Double MMA" standards.

“Did you watch the game?" Morris responded. “Hell no.”

So while the Wizards took a 2-0 series lead before heading to Atlanta for Game 3 on Saturday, they were forced into a style of play that they don’t believe suits them. Plus, each team was forced to rely on their bench for solid minutes.

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In the third quarter, Hawks forward Paul Millsap erupted for 14 points, including hitting eight from the charity stripe. After complaining between games about the physicality of the Wizards, particularly Morris, Millsap appreciated the extra whistles.

“I liked it,” Millsap said about the physical game. “I feel like they called the game as it was. I mean, they did a good job tonight.”

After 19 points in the first game of the series, Millsap scored 27 on Wednesday night.

But even his own coach, Mike Budenholzer, wasn’t totally on board with the additional stoppages.

“Referees are put in these situations, it feels like we are doing everything we can to show our hands and be vertical and keep them off the free-throw line,” Budenholzer said. “It disrupts the flow a little bit.”

Not only did the calls slow down the game, but they also forced key cogs, like Morris and Hawks forward Kent Bazemore, to the bench. As a result, Budenholzer and Wizards coach Scott Brooks were forced to shuffle their rotations.

Instead of having Morris, the Wizards played center Jason Smith for nearly 28 minutes, almost double his regular season average. For the Hawks, they were forced to go with veterans Jose Calderon and Mike Dunleavy.

“We were playing Jason Smith at the five position, where he’s not used to being, for a while,” Wall said. “But we don’t make any excuses, you play with the guys you have out there.”

In the end the Wizards bench keyed the victory by outscoring the Hawks bench 25-14. The fouls also forced Wall, Beal and Atlanta’s Dennis Schroeder to play over 38 minutes.

"Guys like myself and Markieff got in foul trouble and guys came off the bench and supported and gave us a boost, especially Brandon Jennings,” forward Otto Porter Jr. said.

With the Wizards locked in a tight game early in the fourth quarter, Jennings put on a show with three consecutive jumpers to energize the team’s offense. Jennings notched 10 points and two assists in 16 minutes off the bench.

Throughout the game, the Wizards and Hawks pleaded with the officials for calls. When timeouts were called, the players would focus on the refs, not their respective teams. Even the Verizon Center crowd was preoccupied with heckling the refs, not the Hawks.

“Tonight was definitely a tricky game to coach because you were coaching foul trouble,” Brooks said. “But we’ve talked about the bench doing their job all year and they did their job.”

Follow Josh Schmidt on Twitter @joshj_s.