WASHINGTON –- Bradley Beal had just scored on his third driving layup in the fourth quarter, and he was huffing and puffing his way back on defense.

With more than seven minutes left, an eternity remained in Game 4, and the 21-year-old Beal looked like he could use an oxygen mask.

Instead, all he kept doing was breathing life into the Washington Wizards.

With John Wall playing the role of cheerleader due to a fractured hand and wrist, Beal turned in the best performance of his budding three-year career. He poured in a career-high 34 points, seven assists, six rebounds, three steals and one clutch block.

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Beal was relentless, assaulting the rim on one end and defending it on the other with just as much vigor.

This was the night the 6-foot-5 guard took all of his vast potential, put it together and bloomed into a star. It’s one thing to do this in a regular-season game, but to do it in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals is another.

Unfortunately for Washington, the Wizards blew Beal’s signature performance. And in doing so, Washington wasted a golden opportunity to seize this series and move one step closer to their first conference finals appearance since 1979.

Despite the Hawks' playing much of the fourth quarter as if they were begging Washington to take the game, the Wizards watched Paul Pierce miss a wide open, potentially game-tying 3-pointer late in the game before dropping a 106-101 loss to the Hawks at the Verizon Center that tied the series at 2-2.

Just one game after he called “Game!” with his buzzer-beating bank shot to win Game 3, Pierce could not come to the rescue.

The D.C. crowd was almost shocked to see Pierce look human, instead of like the clutch playoff Superman who won Game 3 with a buzzer-beating bank shot.

“I missed,” Pierce said with a chuckle. “I thought I had a great look. That’s the way it goes sometimes. Sometimes you make them. Sometimes you miss.”

But this Wizards’ loss was far from Pierce’s fault. Washington will look back with regret on how it played in the first half. Atlanta shot nearly 60 percent, dominated in the paint with 32 points and scored 65 points to lead by as much as 14 in the first half.

“That is not us at all,” Pierce said.

Also unrecognizable on this night was how Washington's key role players, such as Marcin Gortat, Otto Porter and Drew Gooden, struggled. The vital trio combined for a total of 10 points on 3-for-17 shooting. Porter came into the night averaging 14 points in this series.

Despite all that, the Wizards were in this game because of Beal. In his second game without Wall, Beal busted out of his cocoon and became the leader this team sorely needs him to be.

Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 26 points in their win over the Wizards in Game 4. Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

Down 65-55 at halftime, Beal pleaded with his teammates to join him in the fight.

“I told them that I am not giving up,” said Beal, who had 15 points and seven assists in the first half. “I need everybody with me, and we need to be in this together.”

He opened the third quarter with a steal. He drew a foul, made two foul shots and buried a trey as Washington opened the third on a 9-0 run.

Atlanta, though, looked more like the share-the-ball team that won 60 games this season, and they pushed their lead to 12 early in the fourth.

But up 10 with 10:26 left, the Hawks kept giving Washington opportunities to get back into the game. Atlanta missed 13 of its final 18 shots and turned the ball over four times, practically begging the Wizards to do something.

Beal was as aggressive as you will ever see him in putting his offensive game on display. He scored on difficult drives in traffic, hit a pull-up jumper and buried a runner. His last score of the game got Washington to 104-99 with 1:10 to go.

Besides chasing Kyle Korver (six points) all series and keeping him quiet again, Beal came up with a huge block on Dennis Schroder with 14.9 seconds left, which gave Pierce a chance to tie the game moments later.

This was what the Wizards envisioned Beal could be when they took him No. 3 overall in 2012.

“I am getting more comfortable,” Beal said. "Just having to deal with double-teams a lot and dealing with what [Wall] goes through ... it is kind of the life I chose. I have to grow up. I can’t make any excuses. I have to lead the team the best I can.”

Washington, which is 8-2 on the road the past two postseasons, now faces the task of winning at least one game at Philips Arena -- likely without Wall -- in the final three.

“We won one game without John [Game 3 in Washington],” Beal said. “We can do it again. It doesn't matter what floor.”

Wall has seen the swelling go down in his hand/wrist but has yet to dribble. In order for his team to win this series, Beal has to step up.

“What I saw from Brad is what we are going to need from Brad every night," Pierce said. "He is our main guy [without Wall]. Can’t ask anything more of Brad.”

Unfortunately for Beal, Washington not only wasted its young guard’s best game to date but also threw away a prime chance to put the Hawks on the brink.