WALL HAS 24 POINTS WITH 9 ASSISTS AND 7 BOARDS AS WIZ LOSE 4TH STRAIGHT
The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Washington Wizards, 105-96, Wednesday night at Philips Arena in Atlanta. This was the Wizards’ season high fourth straight loss. The Hawks rebounded with a victory after the New Orleans Pelicans ended their 19-game winning streak.
Coming out of halftime trailing 59-46, the Wizards forced the Hawks to call timeout by cutting the deficit to 66-60 with 8:03 left in the third quarter behind Marcin Gortat’s eight points. The Wizards continued to chip away at the lead. Bradley Beal brought the Wizards to within one with a three-point play when he was fouled on a layup with 3:25 left. John Wall added two free throws to give the Wizards their short-lived lead at 74-73 with 1:16 left in the quarter.
The Hawks responded with an 8-0 run, after which they never relinquished the lead again. Mike Scott’s emphatic slam over Bradley Beal with 6:43 left in the game re-established a double-digit lead at 90-79, and the Wizards never seriously challenged the Hawks again.
After starting the game tied at 13, the Hawks closed the first quarter up 11 at 29-18. They extended it in the second quarter to their biggest lead at 59-43 before going into halftime up 13 after Martell Webster hit a 3-pointer for the Wizards.
Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 26 points, 8 assists and 2 steals. Al Horford scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
The backcourt of Wall and Beal paced the Wizards. Wall scored 24 while Beal scored 23 points.
Wall also dished out nine assists with seven rebounds.
About Derek Norin