The Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards seem primed to do the Eastern Conference's history of rough and tumble playoff bouts proud if Game 1 is any indication.

Dominique Wilkins Maillot,The Wizards' win had it all -- big shots, tough defense, gut-wrenching injuries, big-time returns and a road team snatching home-court advantage from the talons of its hosts just for good measure. And if Paul Pierce is to be believed, the game was indicative of who Washington is as a team.

"It's about heart, that's us, that's our identity," @paulpierce34 speaking the truth after a Game 1 win #dcRising pic.twitter.com/OfXmROLDV9
— #dcRising (@WashWizards) May 3, 2015

The question, then, is whether or not Atlanta is the team we saw in a Game 1 loss. The Hawks aren't a finesse squad by any means -- there's a reason one of their starters goes by the "Junkyard Dog" moniker -- but they do thrive on open jumpers. Unfortunately, those same shots failed the Hawks on Sunday.

"We missed shots. You can't score 35 points in the second half and expect to beat this team." - @DeMarreCarroll1
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) May 3, 2015

But nights where open looks don't fall will happen. And on those nights, the tougher team often wins, as Bleacher Report's Alec Nathan writes.

"Even though Atlanta's offense seized up late, it still tallied nine more assists than Washington's triumphant unit.

"One-sided, this was not.

"Rather, the back-and-forth blows traded by the semifinalists were indicative of what this series is likely to evolve into—a physical test of wills."

Call it cliche if you'd like, but it's a trope that the Wizards lived. John Wall and Bradley Beal both suffered injuries, and both came back. Beal led all scorers, even.

It'd be unfair to say that the Washington Wizards are tougher than the Atlanta Hawks. But for one night, at least, no team was any tougher than the one that leads this series.