Atlanta Hawks vs Washington Wizards: Game Preview, Injury Report, Projected Starting Lineups for Thursday's Matchup

The Atlanta Hawks have a rare opportunity ahead of them to blow out the same team in back to back games.

To be clear, this isn't a matter of overlooking the opponent. Any team can beat any other on any given night. However, it'd be truly disappointing if the Hawks blew a chance to win three straight by taking care of buisness tonight against the Washington Wizards. They just blew this team out by 21 points in their last game and never trailed for a single minute in the game.

The only worrying factor for the Hawks is the fact that they could be missing both Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker against the Wizards. Both of those players have been critical to the Hawks' offense this season and their absence places a lot of pressure on Dyson Daniels to be more of an scorer, which he has struggled with. Considering that Johnson was ruled out five minutes into the last game, they shouldn't need him to beat the Wizards tonight. However, the loss of Alexander-Walker might make it close enough for Washington to make the Hawks sweat.

By the Numbers

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, Daniels, Dyson Daniels, NBA, — Feb 24, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) drives to the basket against Washington Wizards guard Will Riley (27) during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Atlanta's offense has been extremely inconsistent this year, but Washington barely has enough pieces to field an NBA-quality lineup, and the Hawks demolished them. They are 10th in points, 14th in FG%, 7th in 3P%, 20th in FT%, 23rd in rebounds (22nd in OREB, 14th in DREB), 1st in assists, and 11th in turnovers per game. They're 19th in offensive rating this year.

The Hawks held the Wizards to under 100 points and Washington's highest scorer was rookie Will Riley with 18 points. However, they still have a long way to go before being considered a solid unit. On a per-game basis, the Hawks' defense ranks 22nd in points allowed, 20th in FG% allowed, 14th in 3P% allowed, 26th in rebounds allowed, 5th in steals, and 19th in blocks. They're 16th in defensive rating on the year.

It should come as no surprise, but the Wizards are one of the worst offenses in the NBA and they looked like it during their last game. Injuries have taken a toll on an already lacking unit and the numbers aren't pretty. They're 25th in points, 26th in FG%, 17th in 3P%, 21st in FT%, 18th in rebounds (14th in OREB), 19th in assists and 25th in turnovers per game. As their last game shows, this is a relatively soft matchup for the Hawks' defense to go up against.

The Wizards' defense hasn't been great even with a strong season from Alex Sarr, but it's much worse without him in the lineup. They're 29th in points allowed, 21st in FG% allowed, 23rd in 3P% allowed, 30th in rebounds allowed, 21st in steals, and 2nd in blocks. This is a matchup where the Hawks should be able to torch the opposing defense with relative ease barring horrific shooting luck.

Three Reasons Atlanta Can Win This Game

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, Kuminga, Jonathan Kuminga, Wizards, Washington Wizard — Feb 24, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga (0) dribbles past Washington Wizards forward Justin Champagnie (9) during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

He's only played in one game as a Hawk, but Jonathan Kuminga has a very real chance to be Atlanta's primary scorer tonight against the Wizards. If he can carry over his performance from last game to tonight, that might not be such a bad thing. Kuminga had 27 points on only 12 shots while playing 24 minutes. Encouragingly, he went 3-4 from deep, pulled down seven boards and also dished out four assists while getting two steals. Washington fouls a lot and doesn't have a real center to protect the rim. Both of those factors bode well for Kuminga having a repeat performance.

Washington's lack of rim protection could lead to a big game from Onyeka Okongwu. Okongwu has been a very underrated part of the Hawks' offense this season and he finished three assists shy of a triple-double in the last game against Washington. An increased role for Okongwu could be good for the Hawks' spacing as Okongwu's made 2+ threes in three of his last five games. The Hawks will need to get spacing from somewhere if both Johnson and NAW are out and OO seems like a prime candidate to help.

Atlanta isn't a great rebounding team, but the Wizards are the worst in basketball. The Hawks decisively won the rebounding battle in the last game - they grabbed 19 offensive boards to Washington's 2. Those extra possessions obviously made a huge difference in the game and they should be able to achieve a similar result if they crash the boards tonight.

Three Reasons Atlanta Might Lose This Game

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, NBA, Cooper, Sharife Cooper, Wizards, Washington Wizard — Feb 24, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Washington Wizards guard Sharife Cooper (13) controls the ball against Atlanta Hawks guard Gabe Vincent (4) during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Hawks didn't really need Jalen Johnson against the Wizards, but the loss of NAW and potentially Zaccharie Risacher as well could leave them pretty short-handed against a Washington team that will be playing for revenge. It's usually a challenge to blow out a team in consecutive games and missing several pieces only complicates things for the Hawks.

While it wasn't a great night for the Wizards' offense as a whole, one player to watch for Washington is Will Riley. Riley's only a rookie, but he's done a great job of stepping up and giving the Wizards some good minutes when they really need it. He led them in the last game with 18 points on only eight shots, only missing one attempt from the field. If they run more offense through him, it could be a big night for Riley.

Washington's shooting variance is the only way they've been able to stay in these games and it swung the wrong way last game. They shot 10-31 from deep (32% from deep) and Tre Johnson, one of their best shooters, was a -31 on the night because he missed all five of his attempts from deep. It's hard to count on that happening again, even though the Wizards' spacing is horrendous.

Injury Report

Atlanta Hawks: Jalen Johnson, Zaccharie Risacher and Nickeil Alexander-Walker are questionable.

Washington Wizards: Kyshawn George and Tristan Vukcevic are questionable while Trae Young, Anthony Davis, Alex Sarr, Cam Whitmore and D'Angelo Russell are out.

How to Watch

Here is how you can watch tonight's game:

Hawks

G - Dyson Daniels

G - CJ McCollum

F - Corey Kispert

F - Jonathan Kuminga

C - Onyeka Okongwu

Wizards

G - Bub Carrington

G - Tre Johnson

F - Kyshawn George

F - Bilal Coulibaly

C - Anthony Gill

It'll be an interesting game to watch as the Hawks should win this one comfortably again. However, they can't be complacent and they could be down three starter-level players in this game. That will make their margin for error much smaller, but this should be a blowout that sets the team up nicely before taking on the Trail Blazers.