Atlanta Hawks return to winning ways, defeat Washington Wizards 105-96 (2/4/15)

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

The Atlanta Hawks got back to their winning ways with a 105-96 home victory over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night at Philips Arena.

Coming off of a 115-100 road loss to New Orleans on Monday night that snapped their franchise-record 19-game winning streak, the Hawks rebounded with the victory. Atlanta is now 34-3 over the last 37 contests overall and have won a season-best 11 straight home games.

Jeff Teague had a game-high 26 points and eight assists in the victory. Al Horford posted a double-double with 21 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Three other players DeMarre Carroll (14 points), Paul MIllsap (11 points) and Dennis Schroder (10 points) scored in double-figures.

The Hawks shot 47.5 percent from the field in the game and made 11 out of 25 three-pointers. Atlanta outrebounded Washington 46-41 in the win.

John Wall scored a team-high 24 points and dished out nine assists in the loss. Bradley Beal had 23 points points as well for the Wizards.

Overall, Washington shot 47.5 percent in the game and made four out of 16 threes.

Atlanta had a strong start and took a 29-18 lead in the first quarter. The Hawks continued the good play and held a 59-46 halftime lead. Teague had a game-high 17 points in the first half while Horford chipped in 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Overall, Atlanta shot 50 percent from the field and made seven out of 12 three-pointers.

Wall scored a team-high 14 first-half points for the Wizards while Nene had 12. Nene finished the game with 17 points.

Washington shot 46 percent in the first half and made four out of 11 three-pointers.

The Wizards mounted a second-half comeback culminating with a Wall layup at the 2:48 mark of the third quarter, giving them a 74-73 lead. Atlanta came into the fourth quarter with a 77-74 but was still outscored by Washington 28-18 in the third quarter.

After the Wall layup, the Hawks went on a 17-5 run highlighted by a slam dunk from Atlanta’s Mike Scott over Beal to make the score 90:79 with 6:44 left in the game.

The Hawks outscored the Wizards 28-22 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

“Our defense in the first and fourth quarter is where we want it to be,” Hawks’ head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “We want to build from that.”