Up 3-2 heading into Game 6 of their Eastern Conference opening round series against the Atlanta Hawks, the Washington Wizards had an opportunity to send the home team packing.John Wall and Bradley Beal made sure that happened with two dominant performances.Wall was the star of the game, scoring 42 points while shooting an efficient 16-of-25 from the field and 9-for-10 from the free throw line. He also added eight assists, a rebound, four steals and two blocks over 44 stellar minutes on the court.Beal dropped 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting and went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe. He also added three rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block in 34 minutes.In all, 73 of the Wizards’ 115 points came from their dynamic duo. Impressively, that was the first time the two had ever combined for that many points, in either the regular season or playoffs.

Wall also became the first player since 2012 to score 40 points in a series-clinching win.

That's pretty surprising, considering the number of elite players who have turned in incredible performances in deciding games over the past few seasons. 

The All-Star point guard also became the first Wizards player ever to put up the kind of numbers he did during the series.

Wall and Beal will lead the Wizards against their upcoming second-round matchup against the No. 1 seed Boston Celtics who took down the Chicago Bulls in their opening round series. 

Over their four regular-season matchups, Wall put up numbers below his sky-high standards against the Celtics, averaging 17.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists in 35.3 minutes per game, shooting 37.3 percent from the field and just 15.4 percent from three-point range.

Considering the fact that Isaiah Thomas is considered as perhaps the poorest on-ball defender in the NBA, Wall’s struggles were surprising, even if IT wasn’t tasked with defending Wall for the entire game.

Beal averaged 22.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 28.8 minutes per contest and shot an impressive 47.8 percent from the field as well as 47.8 percent from three-point range.

However, Avery Bradley, regarded as one of the best perimeter on-ball defenders in the NBA, only played in two of those games. He will likely be tasked with defending Beal in the upcoming series in what should be the most significant individual matchup. 

The battle will be one to watch in the next round, and if the Wizards plan on advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, they will be relying heavily on their two stars to guide them there.