ATLANTA — Washington Wizards star John Wall was active for Wednesday night’s playoff game against the Atlanta Hawks and looked set to start Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals despite several fractures in his left hand.
Wall missed the last three games of the best-of-seven series after injuring his hand in a fall along the baseline during the May 3 opener.
The teams were tied 2-2.
After showing no apparent problems during pregame warmups, the Wizards announced that Wall would be active for the game. Coach Randy Wittman had already said Wall would not dress unless he was going to play. But Washington didn’t make it official, even submitting a starting lineup that only listed four players. There was a dash drawn through the fifth spot.
Asked how he was feeling as he walked off the court, Wall said, "Good."
Wall managed to finish Game 1 despite his injury, scoring 18 points and doling out 13 assists as the Wizards upset the top-seeded Hawks to seize the home-court edge. The Wizards won Game 3 in Washington without Wall, but the Hawks came back to even the series with a 106-101 victory Monday night.
Wall began dribbling during an off-day practice in Washington, took part in the Wednesday morning shootaround, and came out to warm up with his teammates less than two hours before the start of the game.
He came out with a wrap on his left hand, but took it off during shooting drills. He used both hands with apparent ease, showing no signs of pain. He flexed the injured hand a couple of times, but gave no indication it was causing any major discomfort.
