Hawks Blow Out Wizards In Offensive Shootout

The Hawks had their best offensive game of the season in a heavy-hearted win over Washington.

It feels trivial to analyze a basketball game on a day like this, but here goes. 

The Hawks got back on the winning side Sunday night with a 152-133 win over the Wizards. It was Atlanta’s highest-scoring regulation game since 1970, and the Hawks used an 88-69 run over the middle two quarters to gain the separation they needed to keep Washington at bay.

Atlanta posted a 135.5 offensive rating and a 65.2 effective field goal percentage against the league’s worst defensive team – both high-water marks for the season. Trae Young finished with an effortless 45 points and 14 assists on 13-of-24 shooting while De’Andre Hunter had 25 points on just 11 shot attempts – his best outing in weeks. The Wizards attempted to hide Isaiah Thomas defensively on Hunter, which allowed the rookie to get rolling early, and he carried that momentum through the rest of the game.

“Like anyone, you see the ball go in and it kind of asserts you into the game,” Lloyd Pierce said. “But I thought he was active all over the floor. He’s trying to dunk and attack the rim. He made a big 3 late in the game.”

Kevin Huerter and John Collins added 18 and 16 points, respectively, on identical 7-for-11 shooting lines. Cam Reddish put together another sound two-way performance while Bruno Fernando provided energy on both ends through intermittent foul trouble.

“When Bruno does the dirty work for us,” Pierce said. “I love that. Because it shows that he’s being aggressive. He’s trying to make plays. He’s putting pressure on the rim. Probably all of his points were either lobs or putbacks. That’s where he is in his career and that’s what we need him to be. We need him to be our energy guy. We need him to be our physical guy. We need him to be our motor and our engine, and I thought he did that tonight.”

Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 40 points on just 12-of-22 shooting, and Troy Brown Jr. had 19 off the bench. Washington’s offense hummed at 1.19 points per possession, but it mattered not as the Hawks did whatever they pleased at the rim and drained 14 of their 34 3-point attempts. Once Atlanta solved the Wizards’ initial defensive coverage, Washington was powerless to stop the Hawks.

The two teams paid a moving tribute to Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash Sunday afternoon, at the start of the game as Washington took a 24-second violation after the Hawks started the game with an eight-second violation. Trae Young donned a number eight jersey during those possessions before Atlanta called timeout to allow the game to reset.

But there would be no normality in this contest. Both teams were clearly shaken by Sunday’s tragic news, and with so many players on the two sides who looked up to or played against Bryant, this was a highly emotional game for all involved. The Hawks did limited film preparation before the game, during which they received the news, and didn’t put together much more of a gameplan after that.

“I think the guys came out and responded extremely well given the circumstance and the situation,” Pierce said. “For two-and-a-half hours, you felt like something was distracting. And I think the fans probably felt that, I know our players did a little bit. And then the reality kicks back in.”

The Hawks are now 12-35 on the season. They will visit the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday looking to string together consecutive wins for just the second time this month.