From crybaby to MMA, bad blood boils over for Wizards-Hawks

From crybaby to MMA, bad blood boils over for Wizards-Hawks

ATLANTA (AP) — They've threatened to turn basketball into mixed martial arts.

Heading into Game 4 of their opening-round playoff series, with the Wizards holding a 2-1 lead but the Hawks buoyed by a blowout victory, the bad blood has become a major storyline.

The Wizards are still smarting from a playoff loss to Atlanta two years ago, when their chances of pulling off a major upset against the top-seeded Hawks were ruined by John Wall's fractured hand, an injury that kept him from playing three of the six games.

When the season is on the line, the intensity always ramps up to a whole new level.

Every play is approached like it's make or break, since it very well could be.

The guys in the other uniform are the enemy, standing in the way of your own aspirations.

"On a personal level, yeah," he said after the Hawks finished up their practice for Game 4 Monday night.

— In Game 2, Wizards star John Wall stared down and cursed at Atlanta's Dennis Schroder after Wall had a breakaway dunk and Schroder jumped up at him from behind.

— After losing two tough games on the road, the fired-up Hawks jumped all over the Wizards in Game 3, racing to a 25-point lead in the first quarter and cruising to a 116-98 victory Saturday night.

Millsap scored 29 points and gobbled up 14 rebounds, a performance that drew praise from Morris before he got right back to the insults: He's a crybaby.