Trae Young's 40-point, 13 Assist Game Helps Hawks End 2023 With a Win Over The Washington Wizards
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The Hawks are going into 2024 with a win.
After a tough four-game losing streak, where the Hawks had a tough time closing out teams in the second half (particularly the fourth quarter), Atlanta had a relatively smooth win against the Wizards. The Hawks are now 3-0 against Washington this season and now 13-19 overall.
The Hawks were missing two key pieces of their team today. De'Andre Hunter is still out and backup center Onyeka Okongwu was out today with an illness. After being listed as probable on the injury report, Trae Young was available to play today.
Wizards point guard Tyus Jones was questionable coming into the game, but he was also available to play.
The Hawks started Young, Dejounte Murray, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela.
Washington started Jones, Jordan Poole, Deni Avdija, Kyle Kuzma, and Daniel Gafford.
Wizards point guard Tyus Jones
While the Hawks never really felt the danger of losing this game, they did not get off to a good start.
Washington scored the first seven points of the game and led 7-0 and overall, it was a 17-4 lead for the Wizards just a few minutes in.
The good thing for the Hawks is that they were able to lock in defensively and then get the offense going. It looked like the Hawks were going to end the first quarter with the lead back after they went on a run, but Avdija hit an impossible shot at the buzzer to get the lead back. It was a 13-2 run from Atlanta to get the lead until Avdija hit the buzzer-beater.
The Wizards came into the game last in the NBA in offensive rebounding and it showed early on. Clint Capela and Jalen Johnson were having big days on the glass, with Johnson nearly having a double-double at the half.
The Wizards got it to a one-point game, 43-42 with 6:58 left in the first half, but the Hawks once again closed the quarter on a strong run to lead 70-58 at the half.
The story remained the same in the third quarter. Atlanta led comfortably until the Wizards went on a run to make it a four-point game, 83-79 with 5:23 left in the quarter. Atlanta closed with a 12-4 run to make it 97-84 going into the fourth and it looked like the Hawks were going to cruise to another win over the Wizards.
They did cruise for the most part of the fourth quarter, until the very end.
Atlanta led by as many as 15 with 2:16 to go, but the Wizards started scoring at will and Atlanta was missing free throws. The Hawks ended the game 24-37 from the line and that is unacceptable in a game. The Hawks are a good free-throw shooting team but put the game in jeopardy with the way they shot at the free-throw line.
Atlanta was able to close the game out and win 130-126, but it was way too close for comfort. After the recent losing streak from this team though, a win is a win and Atlanta will head into 2024 on a winning streak.
Jalen Johnson vs the Wizards
Trae Young led the way today, finishing with 40 points on 11-19 shooting while also dishing out 13 assists.
Johnson scored 24 points on 9-12 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds. He continues to play at a high level since returning from injury.
Capela finished with 11 points and 17 rebounds, Murray had 32 points, and Bey had 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Hawks got next to nothing out of their bench though. Bogdan Bogdanovic played 27 minutes and shot 5-19 and finished with 12 points. Patty Mills, Bruno Fernando (who got the backup center minutes with Okongwu out) and Garrison Matthews all played and scored zero points. Atlanta has to have more from their bench, but they are shorthanded in that area. Normally Bey would be coming off of the bench when Hunter is healthy and Okongwu would play 20+ minutes, but that is not the reality right now.
Atlanta shot 49.5% from the floor and 37.5% from three.
Kuzma had the biggest game for Washington, finishing with 38 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Avdija had 17 points and Corey Kispert had 15 off the bench. Washington shot 46.9% from the floor and 32.1% from three.
Atlanta breaks their four-game losing streak behind strong performances from their starters and their next game is a home date with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who find themselves in second place in the Western Conference behind MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Tip-off for that game will be at 7:30 at State Farm Arena.
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