Washington Wizards: Wizards take down Hawks for third straight win
The Washington Wizards beat the Atlanta Hawks 131-117 Wednesday night, pushing their win streak to three games.
This Washington Wizards controlled the majority of the game. They were able to dictate the pace and shoot 48.4% from the floor. The Atlanta Hawks didn’t have a terrible game, but showed that it’s going to be a long process before they become contenders again.
The team didn’t have their All-Star point guard John Wall due to personal reasons, but that didn’t seem to matter as they won the game by 14 points. Bradley Beal stepped up in his absence and led the team with 36 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds. No one from Atlanta could contain Beal all night long.
Washington had six players in double figures. Otto Porter added 20 points and led the team with 11 rebounds. Markieff Morris and Kelly Oubre Jr. played well off the bench going for a combined 31 points.
Thomas Bryant had the best game of his career with 16 points and 9 rebounds. He went 5-8 from the floor in 21 minutes of play. The Wizards must be extremely please with the way the big man has been performing in Dwight Howard‘s absence.
Is it a coincidence that the Wizards had a season-high 35 assists on 46 field goals with Wall out? Austin Rivers and Tomas Satoransky each had 7 assists and handled the point guard responsibilities better than expected.
What’s more surprising is that Beal led the team in assists with 9. He truly did it all Wednesday evening and also demonstrated why he is the team’s most valuable asset.
The Wizards’ chemistry looked fantastic. The ball movement was there and it was easy for them to get out in transition since they were making stops on the defensive end. The offense was very fluid and everyone was moving, which is the way the team needs to play going forward.
John Collins led the Hawks with 26 points and that was about the only bright spot for Atlanta. Trae Young went 4-13 from the field with 14 points and 6 turnovers in a disappointing outing.
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Another great close out performance by the Wizards. They have won 9 of their last 14 games and seemed to have found their identity. A fourth consecutive win is on the horizon as they head to play the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.
Hopefully Washington can keep the win streak alive and continue to get back in the mix of the Eastern Conference.