NBA teams
Ohm Youngmisuk, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Wizards' John Wall misses Game 2 against Hawks with injured wrist

NBA, Washington Wizards, Atlanta Hawks

ATLANTA -- John Wall missed Tuesday's Game 2, 106-90 loss to the Atlanta Hawks with a sprained left wrist and the Washington Wizards point guard's status for Game 3 is uncertain.

Wall said he almost knew immediately upon testing his wrist and swollen hand before the game that he would not be able to "control the ball."

With three more days before Saturday's Game 3 in Washington, Wall hopes the pain and swelling will subside. Coach Randy Wittman listed Wall as day to day.

"I can't really say," Wall said when asked how worried he is about his status for Game 3. "I am just doing the best I can. After it happened, I got treatment for like 24 hours straight and doing everything I can. And now it is all up to ... God has a plan. All I can do is keep getting treatment and try to get better like I am playing Game 3."

Wall said at Tuesday morning's shootaround that he had no doubt that he would play despite the fact that his hand was still swollen from crashing hard to the floor on a drive to the basket with 3:05 left in the second quarter of the Wizards' 104-98 victory over Atlanta in Sunday's Game 1.

Initially, Wall feared he had fractured his wrist, which he did break in high school. Wall said X-rays have shown that the hand and wrist are not broken and that there are no fractures. The point guard also said he has received two opinions on the injury.

When asked if he has undergone an MRI or if there is any ligament damage, Wall replied, "Nope, just a real, real bad sprain."

His hand swelled up badly after Game 1 and it remained swollen after Game 2 as he got dressed.

Before the game, Wall tried dribbling a basketball in the locker room and knew he was not going to be able to do the things he wanted to do.

He walked out to the court to try to warm up but said he returned to the locker room almost immediately.

"You know me, I play through any type of pain," Wall said. "It was just a pain where I felt like I couldn't control the ball and do what I can to help my team. There's no point in going to out there and sacrificing something."

"Just dribbling," he added of what is most troublesome. "Trying to really dribble like I wanted to and crossover and make moves and it's like the ball wanted to stay... I don't want to go out there and have 100 turnovers so you waste your time."

Now the Wizards have some time for Wall to heal. With Game 3 on Saturday, Wall will have six days between Games 1 and 3.

Backup Ramon Sessions played well in Wall's absence, leading the team with 21 points. But Washington will need its All-Star floor general, who is averaging 17.4 points, 12.6 assists and 1.4 blocks and has had four consecutive double-doubles this postseason.

"Definitely, you miss Wall," Paul Pierce said. "That's an All-Star starter, our best player. Of course we miss him. (But) we are not going to cry foul and use it as an excuse.

"We got to band together collectively, use the guys we have because we feel like we can beat them with what we have."

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