WASHINGTON -- Wizards coach Scott Brooks recognized the situation and knew his role. Let John Wall take over and stay out of the way. Washington's All-Star turned the game flow in the third quarter, preventing the Atlanta Hawks from wrestling away home-court advantage.

Wall had 32 points and 14 assists as the Wizards controlled the second half against the Hawks for a 114-107 win Sunday afternoon for a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.

Bradley Beal scored 22 points and Markieff Morris had 21 points for the Wizards, who finished the regular season 49-33 and entered the playoffs as the No. 4 seed after not qualifying last year.

Wall didn't miss much in the third quarter as the All-Star scored 15 points in the period. Washington trailed 48-45 at halftime but outscored Atlanta 38-28 in the third quarter and led by as many as 15 points in the fourth.

"I've seen it enough and I know now just to keep my mouth shut," Brooks said of Wall's surges." Let him take over the game."

Wall did just that. In this case, he turned a clunky game into an up-tempo affair. The Wizards prefer the latter.

"I think that's what John Wall does," Hawks guard Dennis Schroder said. "He's playing great this season and they're pushing the pace on offense and he's finding his open teammates for 3. He did a great job today."

Schroder scored 25 points and Paul Millsap had 19 for the Hawks. Atlanta made 32 of 39 free throws, but only shot 43.6 percent from the field and committed 21 turnovers.

The Hawks took so many free throws in part because of Washington's defensive approach.

"We were playing basketball. They were playing MMA," Millsap said.

Taurean Prince had 14 points in his playoff debut for the Hawks. The rookie's 3-pointer pulled Atlanta within 108-103 with 2:07 left, but Washington countered with four free throws in a row including Wall's pair with 1:13 remaining.

Atlanta won the first meeting against Washington in the regular-season opener for both teams, but the Wizards took the next three including both home games.

Dwight Howard had 14 rebounds and seven points for Atlanta.

Washington center Marcin Gortat finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The game swung wildly, particularly in the first half. Washington raced out to a 23-12, but Atlanta's second unit fueled a rally that put the Hawks up as many as eight points before halftime.

Morris statistically outperformed Millsap during the regular-season meetings and did so again in the playoff opener. Fouled by Millsap while shooting a 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining in the first half, Morris hit the three free throws and then scored seven points early in the third quarter as the Wizards took the lead for good.

Wall dominated the period from there. After only shooting 32.9 percent from the field in four regular-season games against Atlanta, he went 12 of 24 from the field.

"(Markieff) came out and was aggressive for us in the third quarter and got us going," Wall said. "We started to get a lot of stops out in transition and I got into a rhythm of knocking down shots and being more aggressive."

Beal's free throw put Washington up 98-83 with 7:42 remaining.

Neither team entered the postseason with much momentum. Since March 13, the Wizards were 8-9 while the Hawks went 6-10. However, Atlanta won four in a row with a starting lineup that included Tim Hardaway Jr. and Prince before resting several regulars in the regular-season finale after locking up the fifth seed.

Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer stayed with that look in the series opener. Hardaway, Atlanta's third-leading scorer, had seven points on 2 of 11 shooting from the field.

"You always have to give them credit, the defense," Budenholzer said. "They stayed connected to him, being physical but I think Tim had some looks that we feel that he is going to make that we will take again. I think Tim will be better going into Game 2."

NOTES: Game 2 tips off at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday. ... Wizards C Ian Mahinmi (calf), injured April 10 at Detroit, remains sidelined and is expected to miss Game 2. ... G Dennis Schroder is still dealing with a lingering right mid-foot sprain, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said pre-game. The point guard played 36 minutes. ... Wizards C Jason Smith was knocked to the court with an apparent left knee injury. He briefly left the court and eventually returned to the bench but did not re-enter the game. Smith said he suffered a bruised knee.