ATLANTA -- Washington Wizards point guard John Wall returned and made some scintillating highlight plays, but it wasn't enough to beat the Atlanta Hawks.
Playing with a brace to protect the top of his hand, Wall had 15 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks, but the Wizards lost Game 5 82-81 on Wednesday night at Philips Arena.
Wall played 37 minutes and said his fractured hand/wrist felt "perfectly fine" afterward.
Wall said he knew Tuesday, when he first tested his hand dribbling, that he would play in Game 5. But Wall said coach Randy Wittman wanted to talk to team doctors after the Wednesday morning shootaround to make sure his franchise point guard would be OK. After testing his hand in warm-ups before Game 5, Wall said, he felt confident he could use his left hand the way he wanted to and that it was worth the risks.
"The risks is if you fall on it the same way, you can break the bone completely," Wall said of how he fell on it hard in the second quarter of Game 1 to break it. "So those are the risks."
Wall said he avoided that worst-case scenario -- and any other negative one.
"I didn't have any problems with my hand," Wall said. "I was able to play aggressive and make plays, so I was fine."
Even though Wall opted to play, the Wizards announced the point guard was available only about an hour before the game while still deeming him a game-time decision. And about half an hour before the game, the probable starting lineups were posted in the media room in Philips Arena with a dash by the point guard position for the Wizards.
Minutes later, Wall's name was finally added.
It didn't take Wall long to show his game wasn't broken. He scored the second basket of the game for the Wizards with a fast-break layup. Later in the first quarter, he used a nasty hesitation inside-out, left-handed dribble to juke Jeff Teague before scoring over Kyle Korver as a helpless Al Horford tried to chase from behind. Wall scored that basket on a left-handed layup with 7:47 left.
On another play, he spun before crossing over Dennis Schroder and blowing by the Hawks backup before finding Marcin Gortat for a layup.
"I thought I made a couple of moves and felt comfortable," Wall said. "And then I knew I was myself."
He hit five of his first seven shots and had 11 points at halftime.
In the third, he stole a pass in the paint on defense and then, with his back turned toward the opposite end, threw an over-the-head, no-look pass down the court to a streaking Bradley Beal for a layup on the other end.
He also added two highlight-worthy blocks, one coming on the last sequence on Schroder before Horford collected the rebound and scored for the win.
"I thought he was great, considering everything,'' Wittman said. "I don't think he played tentatively at all. I never saw him wince or anything bother him, so that's good. He played like John -- all out."
Wall said going into the game he expected the Hawks to take some shots at his injured hand. It appeared the Hawks played a clean game, although the point guard said Atlanta did test his hand.
"No, I took some smacks at it," Wall said. "They took some great smacks at it [while] driving to the paint. ... [But] I can't say what they try to do. As a team, I respect those guys."
Wall said his respect for teammate Paul Pierce is a major reason he rushed back just 10 days after breaking his hand/wrist.
"I have a long career, so hopefully, I can be back here multiple times," Wall said. "But [Wittman told us before Game 1 in the first round against the Toronto Raptors that], 'You never know. This might be somebody's last ride.' You don't know how many times you can be in the playoffs.
"I think we have a great team, a special team that has a chance even though we are down one," Wall added. "And having Paul Pierce on the team kind of made my decision a lot easier. Knowing this might be his last ride, the great leadership he has brought to this team this year, kind of factored into my decision."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
