John Wall
Injured Washington Wizards guard John Wall gestures from the bench during Game 3 of the Wizards' NBA playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks in Washington, D.C. Reuters/Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports

The Washington Wizards badly need their star point guard back in the lineup after the Atlanta Hawks won Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. John Wall missed Games 2, 3 and 4 due to a wrist injury suffered in Game 1, but Wizards head coach Randy Wittman believes Wall is on the right path to a full recovery.

“It’s headed in the right direction,” Wittman told the Washington Post. “Again, we’re not to the point of him doing anything on the floor yet. ... But it’s heading to a situation where hopefully he can get a ball in his hand and see how that feels and you just take those steps like that.”

The Hawks beat the Wizards 106-101 Monday night and tied the best-of-seven series at 2-2. The teams meet again Wednesday for Game 5 in Atlanta. Game 6 is in Washington and the deciding Game 7 is back in Atlanta, if necessary.

The Wizards had a legitimate chance to take a commanding 3-to-1 series lead, but without Wall, Washington played catch-up for most of Monday night.

The Post reported that a wrist injury typically takes four to six weeks to heal, but the Wizards were still optimistic that Wall could return soon.

Back-up point guard Ramon Sessions has been filling in for Wall. Sessions finished with 13 points on 5-of-13 field goal shooting in Game 4. Wall averaged 17.4 points, 12.6 assists and 1.4 blocked shots in the Wizards’ sweep of the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

In Washington’s Game 1 upset of the Hawks in the current series, Wall, who suffered the injury in the second quarter of the opening game, finished with 18 points, 13 assists and 3 blocked shots.

To contact author of this article, email j.quizon@IBTimes.com.au.

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