The Atlanta Hawks were in Washington on Saturday evening to face the Wizards. Another back-to-back game for the Hawks, but the good news is that they’ll have a break after this for about a week. Last night,
they had a rough loss against the Denver Nuggets, where they were up 19 points coming out of halftime and blew the lead.
The Hawks are looking to get back on track from that loss, as well as avenge themselves from the loss they suffered against the Wizards two weeks ago.
In that game, the Hawks got out to a slow start, and they made sure not to repeat the same mistake. They were able to make plays in the paint, like Jalen Johnson did here early.
They also got out in transition early, and Johnson found Zaccharie Risacher for a dunk.
The Wizards looked like they weren’t going to miss many shots to start, but they came back down to earth, and the Hawks capitalized. That led them to take the lead, and it was with Johnson controlling the pace of the game.
The Hawks had a lead as large as 12 in the first quarter, and they made it look easy as they continued to dominate the paint. Going into the second, they had 24 points in the paint, and led 35-28.
The Hawks were able to maintain their lead in the second, and they continued to what worked, scoring in the paint. They also continued to get out in transition, and Asa Newell benefited from it.
It didn’t stop there for Newell, as he continued to make an impact on offense.
Johnson found Onyeka Okongwu for a lob off the pick-and-roll.
The Hawks found themselves with a 20-point lead in the first half for the second straight game, and the hope was that the end result would not be the same. Johnson kept putting his imprint on the game, and he was definitely working his way toward another triple-double.
The Wizards tried to make some runs, but the Hawks were too in control to give up their lead, and they led 70-55 going into halftime.
Okongwu kept working out in the paint to start the third quarter.
The Wizards were able to cut their deficit down after being down as much as 20 in the first half, but the Hawks stayed afloat throughout the quarter. Luke Kennard was one of the players to help the Hawks keep their lead with his perimeter shooting.
Johnson was working on his triple-double in the first half, and he was able to secure it late in the third.
The Hawks were still going through scoring droughts, and that led the Wizards to bring their deficit to single digits. Going into the fourth quarter, the Hawks only led 97-93.
The Wizards made it a game early in the fourth, tying the score. That didn’t bother the Hawks, and they kept making the right plays to get the lead back. Kennard had the Wizards shaking in their boots with this move.
Krejci started to heat up in the fourth, helping to extend the Hawks’ lead again to double digits.
The Hawks didn’t look back from there, and they kept piling up the points on the Wizards. Johnson was dominant down the stretch of the fourth, and the Wizards didn’t have an answer for him.
Johnson finished the game with 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists, Okongwu finished with 21 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, and Alexander-Walker finished with 17 points.
The Hawks will be back in action on Dec. 12 against the Detroit Pistons.
