Road weary Wizards wary of Hawks (Jan 27, 2018)
ATLANTA - The Washington Wizards finish their five-game road trip in unfriendly territory on Saturday night.
The Wizards (26-22) complete their 10-day journey against the Atlanta Hawks (14-34), the last-place team in the Eastern Conference, but a team that beat them 113-99 on Dec. 27. The series between the two clubs has been dead-even at 11-11 since the 2012-13 season.
"Got (the Atlanta) game and a couple more before the All-Star Game and we definitely need a win," Washington guard John Wall said. "Try to get yourself some kind of momentum going into the break."
Washington has struggled during its five-games in 10-night road stretch, losing three of the four games to date. The Wizards were beaten 121-112 in Oklahoma City on Thursday night and were thumped 98-75 by Western Conference bottom feeder Dallas on Monday.
The Wizards finished the Oklahoma City game with a 38-point fourth quarter and cut it to a one-possession game with eight minutes left. But Washington had too many turnovers (23) and were outrebounded down the stretch and were unable to finish the comeback.
"Way too many turnovers," guard Bradley Beal said.
Beal scored 26 points in the loss, including the 780th 3-pointer of his career. It's the most 3-pointers in NBA history by any player before his 25th birthday. It was the 29th time that Beal has led the team in scoring.
Beal has averaged 16.9 points in 19 career games against Atlanta. Wall has averaged 18.2 points and 8.7 assists in 25 games against the Hawks.
Atlanta is in the midst of its best stretch of the season. The young Hawks have won four of their last nine games, but lost a 121-110 decision at Charlotte on Friday night. Atlanta fought back from a 61-52 halftime deficit and used a 12-0 run to get back in the game in the third quarter. The Hawks actually took a one-point lead before Charlotte scored the final 12 points of the game.
"We couldn't close out the game, but the way we competed, putting ourselves in position to win," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. "There were some positives to pull from and get ready for (Washington.)"
Atlanta got a solid effort from guard Kent Bazemore. He scored 23 of his 26 points - two short of his career high - in the second half to spark the comeback.
"Kent was great," Budenholzer said. "Made a lot of plays, made a lot of plays for his teammates, got hot, shot the ball well. When he's playing like that it gives us a boost. He's got such a great spirit. When you get him going, it fuels everybody."
Bazemore hit four 3-point baskets and Atlanta used 15 3s to get back in the game. Taurean Price had three 3-pointers and scored 21.
The Wizards are without Sheldon Mac (left Achilles surgery) and Devin Robinson, who is on a two-way contract and is with the G League team in Delaware. Atlanta has assigned Tyler Cavanaugh and Isaiah Taylor to the G League team in Erie.
